One Piece One-Shots
by Move-2-da-beat-femme
Summary: This is a collection of one shots that I will be adding on to as I go. Most will probably be AUs and I hope you like them. Read and review, please! Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters, and I'm not making a profit on it.
1. Orphan Law and Luffy AU

**((A/N: This is my first One Piece fanfic, and it's an AU. Surprise, surprise. I'm not even far enough into the series to meet Law, but I've seen youtube vids and read other peoples' fanfic interpretations, so I hope this is okay! R &R, plz!))  
**

* * *

Trafalgar D. Water Law disliked kids, whether they were his age – seventeen – or not. He'd just lost his taste for being around anyone after his little sister and parents died and he was sent to an orphanage. So when, to his irritation, a little brat who couldn't have been older than eight climbed up next to him on a park bench he'd been reading on, in late June, he was less than thrilled. Additionally, the pest wouldn't stop running his mouth once he began to speak.

"Look," Law sighed (interrupting the boy's absolutely "riveting" recount of his experience eating food made by his friend, Sanji, who was apparently from France), "as interesting as that is, we don't know each other. Do you often annoy complete strangers?"

The child didn't seem offended in the least. "Shishishi!" _What an odd laugh,_ Law thought. "I am Monkey D. Luffy! I'm ten years old!" the short vexation announced happily, ignoring or not registering his reluctant company's question. Instead, he gazed up at the tan orphan, obviously expecting an introduction in return.

It took but a moment for Law to understand that he wasn't getting rid of Luffy, and begged for strength from any deity willing to take pity on his wretched soul.

"My name is Trafalgar Law," he finally mumbled, returning to his book, hoping the kid would understand that he didn't want to converse with anyone.

Naturally, his hopes were dashed as Luffy attempted to pronounce his name.

"...Traffy-guy... Torao..." His eyes practically lit up as he twisted to face Law. "Torao!" he cheered, as if accomplishing some great feat.

"Just call me Law."

That drew out another gleeful, and still strange, laugh that was abruptly cut off. After a beat of silence, Law couldn't stop himself from glancing up to see if the younger male had gotten bored and left. Instead, he found the other staring towards his book.

 _Or not,_ the teenager corrected, glancing down and seeing his sweatshirt's sleeves had risen to reveal new scabs and white scars on his wrists. He allowed Luffy to get a good, long look before he covered them again. Silence reigned for a few minutes.

"Why do you have scars?" Luffy finally asked, sounding more serious than any ten year old Law had ever met.

Law pulled his phone out of his pocket (he'd bought it from a techno-savvy schoolmate) and checked the time; he had just enough time to get back to the orphanage before the Head Mistress' curfew. "I've been fighting," he replied as he closed his book and stood.

"Who against?"

The older boy couldn't help but smile. Luffy sounded so furious – incensed as if Law was his long-time friend and not some anti-social stranger on a random bench in some park. And though he wasn't obligated to answer any of the questions directed towards him, he allowed the answer to be spoke before he walked away.

"Myself."

-End-


	2. LASL AU

**(A/N: This chapter is better than the last one, I swear. So this is a LASL (Law, Ace, Sabo, Luffy) bro AU, and I had a lot of fun writing this. I was listening to _It has begun_ by Starset, and I just got this idea stuck in my head, so here you go. Tell me if you think I should write a chapter on how he joined their family and let me know if you think Sabo should come back. So yeah, R&R, and enjoy~)**

* * *

Law sighed as he kicked the door shut behind him.

"Hi, Torao!" Luffy shouted from the kitchen.

The doctor grunted and walked into the living room, toeing his shoes off by the couch and picking up the remote, turning on the television. One glance at the screen had his blood running cold, a familiar numbing sensation spreading throughout his body. The remote slid from his limp hand, clattering loudly on the hard floor.

"What are you doing out here, Tora...o..."

Luffy's voice trailed off as he entered the room, eyes locked on the news report.

 _"Caught in the crossfire between a group of criminals and policemen, 14 year old Portgas D. Ace was shot on orders of Police Chief Akainu, who claimed to have thought the boy to be a member of the gang trying to escape. According the medical personnel who arrived on the scene, he was mumbling,_ _ **"Luffy, everyone, thank you for loving me..."**_ _before he succumbed to his wounds and died on the way to the hospital."_

Luffy fell to his knees beside Law, screaming as tears ran down his face. " _Ace!_ "

Law's knees buckled and he barely stumbled back in time to land on the couch rather than the floor. He felt like he couldn't breath; was that how Ace felt when he got shot? Law felt his lower lip quivering, but no tears rose to his eyes. He slumped forward, elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands.

* * *

 _Law shoved both Ace and Luffy into the house, smirking at their complaints._

 _"Shut up," he said in reply._

 _They grumbled and headed to the kitchen._ Bottomless pits, _Law thought._ It's a wonder that we have food at all.

 _Tossing his backpack onto the couch, he picked up the remote and sat on the couch, turning on the tv. He clicked through channels boredly before leaving it on a news station._

 _"Hey, make me a sandwich, Luffy-ya!" Law called._

 _"Okay!" the ten year old shouted, voice muffled and mouth probably filled to the roof with food._

"...it seems there has been an incident in the lake."

 _Law turned his attention back to the television in time to see pictures of a speedboat crash. His mind helpfully supplied him with all the injuries possible to get from such a bad accident – one of them being death._

"An eleven year old boy had accidentally turned on the speedboat while looking for his hat, say witnesses," _the news woman continued._ "As the boat approached the other shore of the lake, a group of people on another speedboat, uncaring of the first, rammed into the back, causing it to flip and its wreckage to be strewn in the water and along the shore. The body still hasn't been found, nor have the group who caused this tragedy, but the hat of the young boy was recovered."

 _Law's eyes widened as Sabo's familiar top hat appeared on the screen. He heard the crash of ceramic breaking on the floor behind the couch, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the blue item that was the last of one of his younger brothers._

 _"Sabo..." Luffy whimpered._

* * *

Law sat up suddenly, gasping for air that just wouldn't come. He remembered all too well that day; he'd been fourteen – _Ace's age..._ – when Sabo had died. He remembered when they went to claim the hat, how afterwards, back home, they sat on the couch. Law had held it in his lap, staring blankly at the wall as Luffy sobbed, curled up against him, and Ace sat on his other side, looking furious and ready to cry as well.

Rubbing his eyes, Law got up and left his room. As he passed the living room, he looked in to see the dog pile created by friends and makeshift family of Ace's that had decided to stay the night. Marco was the only one up, and he was sitting on the couch with Luffy draped across his lap while all of Luffy's friends were leaning against him in some way or another. The blond looked up at Law, offering a small smile, though his eyes were slightly red; he hadn't had the signs of crying when he first came over, and Law had a feeling that he'd waited until everyone was asleep to let go. Law nodded slightly, to acknowledge the attempt at comfort, and went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water and read until it was time for school.

* * *

Law saw the news of the car accident just as he finished helping deliver a child. Desperation clawed at him as he grabbed his medical bag and ran for the door.

"Captain!" his assistants, Penguin and Shachi, shouted.

He ignored them as he grabbed his nodachi from the front desk (the town wasn't exactly safe) and left the building. He glanced around for a second before running down the street. The accident hadn't happened too far from where he worked and he was determined to get there before death occurred. When he arrived, a police officer attempted to stop him from getting closer.

"I'm a _doctor_ ," he snarled.

The officer backed down, though Law was sure it was more from his murderous tone and nodachi than his words, but he didn't care as he approached the car. A pit formed in his stomach and he almost collapsed when he saw the driver.

He had called seventeen year old Luffy to pick him up from work. Now Luffy was trapped in a partially crushed car, showing no outer signs of being alive. The vehicle must've rolled at some point, because the front of the roof was folded down and crushed against Luffy's chest. Sliding his nodachi out of its sheath, after setting down his medical bag, he shoved the blade into the seam of the bent door and pried it open. As he ducked down to see if there was any space between Luffy's skin and the metal, he heard an ambulance pull up.

"Captain, we've got a stretcher," Shachi announced as he and Penguin rushed over to him.

"Good," he breathed, reminding himself to keep calm; Luffy had to be another patient at the moment, not his only remaining little brother, or he'd screw up. "Take this and open the other side."

He handed Shachi his nodachi because he could see the bulk of a passenger on the other side. The brunet male struggled to lift the long blade and Penguin snatched it away.

"I've got the other guy," he said impatiently. "You help Law with what he needs."

Shachi looked at Law, clearly expecting instructions, and the doctor took one last look at Luffy as Luffy before starting.

"Let's get see if we can move the seat back."

* * *

The surgeries on both Luffy and his passenger, Jinbei – his and Law's neighbor – took hours each. It was early morning the day after the accident before both were away from Death's door. Law sat in their room, next to Luffy's bed, holding his brother's hand. He had told his assistants to not bother him unless it was an emergency. Law's eyes kept straying to the heart monitor, hoping fervently for some king of positive change, but it remained the same. Luffy and Jinbei had the high possibility of going into a coma, the former more than the latter. Law just couldn't believe he had such bad luck that he lost his original family, his new caretaker, then his new brothers, one by one.

Law lowered his head. "If you leave me," he whispered, voice cracking, "I swear I will never forgive you." And for the first time since he received the letter that Corazon had died in battle*, he cried.

* * *

 **The door of Luffy and Jinbei's door opened and a man with wavy blond hair stepped in. He closed the door behind him, approaching the beds. He kept a serious expression until he saw Law sleeping against Luffy's bed, clutching the boy's hand. A small smile appeared, though it was more sad than anything. He stopped by Luffy first, running his fingers through the younger male's raven hair. Going around to the other side of the bed, grabbing a blanket off of a shelf against the wall as he went, he unfolded the cloth and laid it over Law. He wanted nothing more than to settle Law in a position that wouldn't make his back ache when he woke, but covering him with a blanket was taking a risk as it was, since Law was a light sleeper when he managed to sleep. He knew personally because he used to find Law at his desk or the table more than once, and the older male used to wake up every time he tried to move him. Sighing softly, he turned to leave.**

 **" _Sabo-ya._ "**

 **Tensing, the blond turned to look at the other. But Law was still asleep. Relieved, Sabo smiled softly, fond instead of sad this time. The dim light from the corridor reflected the scar on the left side of his face.**

 **"Goodnight, Law."**

 **He turned and quietly left the three alone again.**

* * *

It had been two years since Luffy went into a coma. Jinbei had recovered just fine, and while Law was glad for that, he wished Luffy had had that much fortune. He continuously refused to take the boy off of life support. He knew it was cruel to force the nineteen year old to continue living like that, but some sort of gut feeling told him that his brother just needed a little time to recover... A _lot_ of time, but he would recover. Or so that's what he told himself. Penguin and Shachi thought differently. It took them months, but they finally got Law to agree to let Luffy go. To their shock, he wanted to do it on his birthday. Though they strongly disapproved, they agreed.

The night before his birthday, Law decided to spend the night with Luffy again. It was cold for an October and he was bundled in a blanket, but not sick – luckily, or he wouldn't have been able to stay.

"It's been two years," Law mumbled as he flipped through a book on internal trauma. "I really thought you'd be bugging me again by now." He skimmed a few more pages before closing the book and setting it on the table next to the bed.

He gazed at Luffy for a long while, taking in the scar below his left eye and the large, 'X'-like one on his chest. He remembered seeing a similar scar on Ace's chest at his funeral; the tattoo he'd gotten on his back when he first started working for Newgate's tattoo parlor was totally destroyed by one too. Sabo... Law would never know what scars he would've had at his funeral.

Law realized his vision was blurring. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears, but that only pushed them out. Cursing softly, he wiped his eyes as he opened them again, glaring at Luffy.

"I thought we were going to stick together because we lost Ace-ya and Sabo-ya..." he choked out angrily. "You're just as bad as everyone I've ever cared about."

He rested his crossed arms on the bed and buried his face in them, crying silently.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered.

* * *

"Torao. Toraoooo~ Torao!"

Law woke to someone butchering his name. His back hurt like crazy and he wasn't in the mood to deal with the energetic little pest.

"Leave me alone, Luffy-ya..." he muttered.

"Shishishi~"

It took a moment for everything to come rushing back, and when it did, Law's head throbbed painfully as he sat up, staring wide-eyed at his younger brother. The boy laughed again at his expressions, but stopped when his older sibling stood quickly and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Torao...?"

Law felt himself trembling, and Luffy rubbed his back gently.

"You were gone for two years..." the tan male said hoarsely. He straightened, grabbing Luffy by the shoulders and trying for a glare that fell flat with his red eyes and the tear streaks on his cheeks. "What were you doing, attempting to train that dull brain of yours?"

Luffy looked surprised, but then grinned. "Yep~ I was preparing to protect you forever!"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Law's expression crumpled and he began crying again, sitting down so he could hide his face better. Luffy picked up his straw hat off of the table next to his bed and pushed it onto Law's head. The older brother stiffened for a moment before sobbing even harder.

"It's okay, Torao," Luffy said. "I won't leave you."

* * *

 **(*Corazon was in the marines and died. Perhaps.)**


	3. Modern AU with Devil Fruits

**(A/N: This is a modern AU, with a bit of age-swapping here and there.**

 _ **Summary: After Corazon was killed, Law was forced on the run by the vengeful Doflamingo, who wanted him for his new, barely awakened powers – a gift from Corazon that Law wasn't planning on giving up. He went on the run at fourteen and was still out of the Donquixote family's hands three years later...**_ **)**

* * *

Being a criminal was how Trafalgar Law made a living. Ever since his foster father died and his "uncle" turned everyone in Dressrosa City against him, he'd been on the run. He never lingered in one location for too long; even though he was only seventeen, the instinct to move constantly was integrated so far into him that the one time he had gotten too ill for his regular relocation, he'd spent his sick state trembling with anxiety and suffering minor panic attacks. Since then, he'd made sure to be in top health during the week before he was to continue on. He did, however, have to resort to theft and a few other unsavory acts to keep himself fed and on top of self-first aid. His actions led to him receiving a bounty that was posted across the state, making it increasingly difficult to hide and still do what he needed to. He managed, somehow, and thought he'd be fine until he could get his revenge.

After a full night of scoping out possible targets to take from, following two nights of interrupted sleep from nightmares, Law had decided to sleep in. He'd gotten himself a room in a shady looking motel, paying with cash only and giving a deadly glare to the manager, who'd been eyeing the "cursed" nodachi he'd taken with him when he first fled from the Donquixote mansion; then he bundled up in his room, practically collapsing from exhaustion. When he woke, sixth sense sounding a warning that someone else was within his room, he'd expected to find the manager attempting to take his precious weapon. However, the sleazy man was not who greeted him when he opened his eyes; a young looking man was attempting to squeeze through his window. The man had dark hair, though it was too dark to make out any features upon his face. His clothes, however, were easier to see – a police badge gleamed dimly, but proudly, on his chest. Law's own chest constricted; he thought he'd been so careful!

"Oh shit," the policeman muttered when he saw Law was awake.

Law finally moved, rolling off of the bed and diving for his nodachi, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm. He whipped around to face the intruder, who hadn't even gotten more than his head and arm through the window...his arm that was stretched across the room to grab Law!

"Wh-what...?" Law stammered, stunned. He had never met another person with "demonic powers" before*. He shook off his stupor and lunged for his sword, stretching the cop's arm further and managing to grab his weapon.

"Woah, hey, let's not do anything hasty!" the rubber-man yelped, pulling Law with a surprisingly strong tug. The teenager was set sprawling on the floor as his foot caught on a bed post. "Oops."

The hand released Law and he wasted little time getting up and triggering his own abilities, though they weren't too well under his control yet.

"Room!"

A blue semi-sphere surrounded Law and the immediate area around him; he concentrated hard and managed to make it grow past the walls of the motel. On the edge of the sphere he could sense something on the ground, though he couldn't tell what it was.

 _Better than nothing,_ he decided, lifting a tattooed hand.

"Shambles!"

He stumbled when he appeared outside, his room flickering and fading. The policeman made a noise of surprise behind him and he took off running. He didn't make it far before he slammed into something hard. Falling back, not being able to catch his balance fast enough, he looked up and saw another policeman standing above him; this one, in the light of the moon, had freckles and dark hair that matched his equally shadowed eyes.

"I see you out-witted Luffy," the man sighed.

Law tightened his grip on his nodachi, waiting for the man to look away for even a second. However, this cop seemed to know what he was thinking of doing, because he let a feral grin form on his face, flames flickering to life upon his bare forearms and clothed shoulders.

"You sure you wanna try that, kid?"

Law was truly afraid now. He had never faced off against a Devil Fruit user before, and he hadn't quite wanted to with his own powers still manifesting within him. That didn't stop him from unsheathing his blade and lashing out at the fire-man. His sword sunk through the man's stomach, but the area around it rippled and turned to flames. Law's eyes widened and he slowly lifted his gaze to the man's face. A chuckle escaped the older male as he bent around the sword to get into Law's face.

"I'm gonna make you regret that."

Law tried to pull his sword out of the flames, but it was as if they were gripping it. The flame-man's fist began to glow a hot red-white and he pulled it back.

"Fire-"

"Ace."

It was as if the voice had doused the fire, because Law fell back with his nodachi once more in his possession and there was no sign of the freckled police's ability. A blond man was standing behind Ace, pale skin contrasting quite harshly with the patch of dark on the left side of his face. Running footsteps sounded behind Law.

"Ah, Sabo, Ace, when did you guys get here?" asked the cheerful voice of the rubber-man – 'Luffy,' Ace had called him.

"Just making sure I didn't have to clean up your mess," Ace replied teasingly, all signs of previous hostility towards Law gone.

Sabo hummed softly, but didn't reply verbally as he took a few steps forward to stand by Ace.

"So, Trafalgar Law, that's a handy trick you have," he said casually.

Luffy stepped around the nervous teen to be in his eyesight. He was nodding vigorously.

"It's so weird! Shishishi, kinda like Kidd's."

Law was confused. Weren't they trying to arrest him? Weren't they being manipulated by Doflamingo like almost every other policeman he'd come across (not counting the white-haired one who'd turned a blind eye to his escape from a jail cell)?

"Anyway," Sabo continued. "I got a message from one of our double agents, Smoker. He said you were related to a friend of his – sorry for your loss – and that you were being hunted by a Celestial Dragon. My brothers and I help rescue Devil Fruit users like yourself, and even some people who are just unnaturally attracting trouble and have held out on their own just fine. Luffy practically jumped at the opportunity to recruit you."

Luffy laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "He's nakama; I can feel it."

"What do you say, kid?" Ace asked, looking down at Law with an unreadable expression on his face. "Join us? We can even teach you to master your abilities."

 _If I join them,_ Law thought, mind racing, _I could become strong enough that no one will take my freedom from me! And one day...I will_ _ **kill**_ _Doflamingo and carry on Cora-san's will._

"Okay," he agreed lowly, sheathing his nodachi and standing. "I'll go with you."

While Ace didn't look ready to attack Law, he also didn't look like he trusted him, arms crossed tightly across his chest.

 _Smart._

"Yosh!" Luffy cheered, pulling Law into a hug.

Law squirmed unhappily, not liking the personal contact.

Sabo smiled when Luffy finally released the teen. "That's a good choice. Let's get going to the base, then. You've got a lot of people to meet.

* * *

 **(A/N: *When Law lived with the Donquixote family, he had never been shown their Devil Fruit powers.**

 **Forgive me for being wrong in any of the Devil Fruit aspects; I haven't even officially met Law on One Piece yet. R &R, plz~** **)**


	4. Undercover Police AU

**((A/N: So, I guess this is kinda rushed, but I wanted to get it done and over with. I kind of rambled on to explain, since this is the first of this universe and I wanted to get the major explanations out, so I hope I managed to make this good and have it make sense.))**

* * *

In his line of work, Marco had witnessed more than his fair share of staged deaths, most of which fooled even _him_ , which was saying a lot, since he was one of the top undercover cops in Edward Newgate's department. Having been working for Newgate – labeled "Whitebeard" by other departments, and "Oyaji" or "Pops" by his subordinates, who he treated as sons – since he was a young teenager, Marco had also lost a fair share of partners. Seeing as his job was dangerous, he'd grown used to the losses, though they still left a brief sting. Then he'd met Thatch.

The first impression Marco had of Thatch was that he was a child trapped in a man's body. Whitebeard had smirked at the carefully concealed dread forming on his first son's face as he introduced them to each other. The blond had seriously thought that his new partner was going to be the cause of their eventual death. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Thatch proved to be a reliable companion on undercover missions, short- or long-term. He saved Marco's life just as many times as Marco had saved his. They became close, despite Thatch's annoying nicknames, and while that should've been a warning for Marco, the blond had clung tight to the belief that this partner would last.

A betrayal within their own department led to the death of division four's commander.

Ace, the newest member of the department and the second division's commander, would've been Marco's next partner, but he left – sneaked off while no one was looking – to hunt down the traitor, Marshal D. Teach. Marco had put in a request to do his work solo and Whitebeard had, somewhat reluctantly, agreed, knowing his son was taking the loss and absence of two brothers hard; additionally, Marco, being right under Whitebeard in the line of command, now had to lead the second and fourth divisions along with his own, the first division. While the amount of work and attention that position required would've put anyone else in over their heads, Marco worked best when stressed and refused to let any of his other siblings assist him (he did, however, have to put up with Whitebeard forcing his help upon him).

* * *

Two years passed with more tragedies striking the Newgate department. An anonymous report was delivered directly to Marco, announcing the death of Portgas D. Ace, also due to the influence of Teach, more commonly known as "Blackbeard" among the departments. Whitebeard himself set off to take down the traitor, refusing to allow his son's to accompany him; it didn't take more than a month after Ace's death for the news of his death and Blackbeard's disappearance to circulate.

The remaining division commanders voted for Marco to be the captain – the title that Whitebeard had previously owned – and he accepted the new workload that came with it. He despised being required to attend meetings with other department captains, but he did make a few allies, despite his less than friendly demeanor. One such ally was Akagami no Shanks, who had apparently known Whitebeard and had even taken over for Whitebeard's deceased rival, Gol D. Roger. For some reason, Shanks had immediately taken to Marco. Then there was Monkey D. Luffy of the Straw Hat department, who was already partnered with a Trafalgar D. Water Law of the Heart department; Luffy was Ace's younger brother, and Marco knew a lot about the short nineteen year old from the stories Ace had told the whole department. Shanks and Luffy promised to keep an eye out for Blackbeard and Marco was grateful – he wanted to be able to find the man if he was in hiding and not dead like the Whitebeard department hoped.

The only downfall to the new alliances was the constant visits. Shanks dropped by unannounced at least once a week, sometimes with a man named Buggy, who helped him from the department (though Marco had little doubt that Buggy did most of the paperwork while Shanks went out on the missions). Luffy popped in every chance he could, sometimes every day for a month, usually with one of his nakama, and always accompanied by Law, who Marco grew to like as they often shared exasperated looks about Luffy's antics.

The constant surprises were the reason why he wasn't so surprised when both Shanks and Luffy showed up about half a year after their alliances were made (though, when he thought back to it, he should've known something was up when he saw Buggy and Law weren't around like normal).

"Marco, Marco, we've got great news!" Luffy practically screamed.

The blond glanced up from his paperwork, raising a brow; all news was 'great news' when Luffy was around. Shanks looked as equally excited as Luffy, beaming just as wide.

"What's the news?" Marco asked, somewhat curious.

Shanks grinned wider as Luffy laughed. "Come on, you won't believe us until you see it with your own eyes, Phoenix."

* * *

Marco always knew some higher, unearthly being like to jerk him around, mess with his head, and make his downright miserable. However, seeing his closest partner and brother sitting in a wheelchair in a hospitable Law had happened to be sent to – when he apparently was caught on one of his missions infiltrating drug lord Donquixote Doflamingo – just the night before Luffy and Shanks showed up for Marco. An indescribable mix of rage and hurt and a whole cacophony of emotions Marco couldn't begin to describe swelled in his chest, making it tighten until he felt like all the air in his lungs was being forced out.

"You... You fucking _bastard_!"

Marco's face was red from anger and he raised his fist. Thatch blanched and raised his hands in a helpless gesture, grinning nervously.

"You wouldn't hit an invalid, would you?" he asked hopefully, gesturing to his current, stuck-in-a-wheelchair state.

The blond stood still for a moment, arm trembling in the air before dropping back to his side. He looked drained, skin pallid and dark shadows beneath his eyes like bruises.

"No..." he replied quietly, sounding just as exhausted as he now looked. He nearly dropped to his knees, only staying on his feet because he refused to look as affected as he felt in front of the _idiot_ he called brother, and before Thatch could react, the other was hugging him – the best he could do with the wheelchair in the way. He was afraid he'd hurt the brunet, but Thatch gladly returned the embrace, squeezing back with as much strength as he could (which was a lot, for a guy stuck in a coma for over two years). "I hate you _so much_..." Marco's voice cracked as he buried his face in Thatch's shoulder

Thatch broke into a grin again, squeezing his brother tighter. "I love ya too, Pineapple Head."

* * *

 **((A/N: This isn't related to this one-shot at all, but did you guys know that Rocinante/Rosinante didn't like bread? Perhaps that is where Law got his dislike for that specific food?**

 **Just for that useless bit of info, I will tack on an extra ending to this one-shot:**

 _Marco decided he hated anonymous letters more than anything in the world. After the ones that were sent of Ace and Whitebeard's deaths, he was tempted to just burn any that came in. If they were useless, he usually ended up burning them anyway, just to feel better. The one he held in his hands had him trembling in barely suppressed anger._

 _**First Division Commander Marco,**_

 _ **I bet you thought I was dead. No, I am planning on spreading my legacy as Blackbeard across the world, striking terror into the hearts of millions. I bet you want to come after me. In fact,**_ **I** _ **want you to do just that. You're probably thinking this is a trap, a trick, and you'd be right. But to make sure you came, I put in a few items worth your while in the envelope with this letter. I hope we meet up soon so everyone can witness the defeat of the Oyaji's strongest at my hands.**_

 _ **\- Marshal D. Teach**_

 _Marco had reread the letter dozens of times, but the rage within him was always put out when he glanced at the "worthwhile" items Teach had sent with it. Various pictures of a bruised and battered Ace and gravely injured Whitebeard were scattered across his desk, labeled with dates, each other their injuries getting worse as the days went on. Marco dropped the letter and buried his face in his hands. He witnessed a lot of staged deaths in his lifetime, but he'd never seen the aftermath of the ones that had gone wrong until he'd opened an anonymous letter sent by a traitor._ **))**

* * *

 **((Ta-da! I know, it's lame and rushed too, but I tried. Please enjoy the story anyway! By the way, for those following my story, I took down chapter 2 for revising and perhaps I will repost it? Doesn't matter. So yeah. R &R, plz.))**


	5. Valentines Day Special: High School AU

**(A/N: So, this is my first holiday chapter! Hooray! This is a high school AU and all the Supernovas are gonna be around the same age because I don't feel like calculating all the age differences. Happy Valentines Day! Also, late Happy Birthday to Killer and Robin, and anyone else who I don't have birthdays written down for. R &R, tell me what you think, and if you know any One Piece character whose birthday is coming up and you want to see a chapter for them on their birthday, please let me know through PM or review.)**

* * *

Basil Hawkins sometimes asked himself why he was dating Scratchmen Apoo. He hadn't read in his cards that they were meant to be – and he trusted his cards' readings with his life because they were never wrong – or even had any interest in the brunet before they became a couple. All he knew was that the taller man had asked him out and he'd agreed on an impulse, something he hadn't done since he was a child. But it was one thing for him to question his own relationship – it was quite another thing if his friends did as well.

"...I mean, he spends all his free time messing around with music or pissing me off," Eustass Kidd was complaining. "Does he ever take you out to dinner or something?"

"Do you ever take Killer out to dinner?"

Kidd's face turned as red as his hair and Killer laughed quietly, not taking his eyes off of his iPod – not that anyone could ever tell where he was looking, thanks to his bangs.

"I-I do _sometimes_ ," Kidd finally stammered, to which his boyfriend nodded in confirmation when everyone looked at him.

"Well, in Apoo's defense, he's not just 'messing around with music'," X Drake spoke up, always one to play mediator in arguments and fights. "He runs a radio station, Kidd. I doubt that's easy to do, especially when his station is practically functioning on donations."

"Has he ever invited you to his station?" Jewelry Bonney asked Hawkins.

The blond shook his head, pulling his cards out and shuffling them, an action he usually performed when he was getting stressed, though he didn't realize that all his friends knew this.

"I say you break up with him," Kidd stated.

Killer elbowed the redhead without looking away from his game.

"Shut up, Kidd," he mumbled.

"Don't listen to that idiot," Bonney said, glaring at her fellow South Blue transfer*. "It doesn't matter if he hasn't invited you to his station; none of us have been there either. On a more important matter..." She leaned closer to Hawkins. "Have you guys kissed yet?"

"Bonney," Drake complained, face turning pink.

"Oh, be quiet, you prude."

Hawkins shook his head again when Bonney turned her attention to him again. Her jaw dropped and he avoided her disbelieving gaze.

"What? You've been dating for how long...? Do you at least see a kiss in your future?"

"We've been dating for three months. And I promised not to use my cards when it comes to us."

"He made you promise?" This time it was Killer who had spoken up, his iPod resting on the table.

"No, he couldn't care less about how I use my cards." Hawkins looked up from the stack of cards in his hands. "Law made me promise."

"I made you promise what?"

Hawkins and the others sitting with him all looked as one towards the door of the cafe they were hanging around; Trafalgar Law was standing there, bundled in a feathery-necked jacket and holding hands with Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro following the two love birds.

"You made him promise not to look into his future with his boyfriend?" Bonney cried.

"Yes," Law confirmed, being pulled to the table with Luffy, who pulled up an extra chair and sat Law in it before squishing in beside him; Zoro sat at the table behind Luffy, which was close enough that he could be involved in the conversation as well. "Hawkins relies on his cards for everything; he needs to learn to live a little."

Drake reluctantly nodded. "He does prefer to predict future events rather than let them happen naturally."

"I don't predict future events," Hawkin protested, shuffling his cards again. "I see possible events that might come to pass. There are many outcomes because there are many paths one can take."

"...what are you guys talking about?" Luffy asked, arm resting protectively around Law's waist as the taller male and his redheaded rival began bickering quietly.

"We're talking about Hawkins' love life," Bonney explained.

"No, we're not," the blond growled. "I'm done discussing this with you."

"Why are you so worked up over it?" Zoro asked. "I mean, it's his love life and his problem."

Bonney scowled at Zoro. "Shut up, idiot," she hissed. "You needed Perona's help to start dating that blond cook with the weird eyebrows."

"Hey, the Shitty Cook is none of your concern," Zoro snapped, though his cheeks were turning red because everyone knew it was true.

"Why are you discussing Hawkins and Apoo?" Law inquired.

"Because the annoying asshole doesn't do anything with Hawkins," Kidd replied heatedly.

"Why is that any of your concern?" Law asked coldly.

"Because it's Valentines Day!" Bonney wailed dramatically. "And Apoo hasn't spent any personal time with Hawkins at all today! We know because we've been with him since this morning!"

Luffy's eyes widened comically and he looked up at Law, who grimaced, as if knowing exactly what Luffy was going to say.

"Is that why you gave me meat?!" the younger male gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?" He twisted in his seat to face a rather pale Zoro. "Why didn't you warn me, Zoro?!"

"I forgot..." Zoro mumbled, looking like he had just broken one of his precious swords. "Swirly Brow is going to kill me!"

Zoro stood, nearly knocking his chair onto the floor, and disappeared out the door. Luffy stood as well, pulling Law off of the chair as well.

"Apoo was looking for you around the school," Luffy said calmly to Hawkins before leaving, almost as if it were an afterthought; everyone stared at him blankly as he practically carried Law out the door.

After a moment, Hawkins stood from his seat. "It seems I need to go meet up with Apoo," he announced, placing his cards in his pocket.

"No, don't go! Not yet!" Bonney begged. "What are you gonna do when you meet up with him?"

"I don't know."

That was a rare response from Hawkins; he _always_ knew what to do in a situation. Leaving Bonney (and Kidd) in stunned silence, he received a goodbye from Killer and a 'see you later' from Drake just before he stepped out the door.

* * *

"Ah, Hawkins!"

Apoo rushed from the small alcove that had protected him from the worst of the weather. Hawkins had mere seconds to prepare before the taller male was barreling into him, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug that banished the cold that his own jacket hadn't managed to keep out; Apoo straightened and Hawkins' feet left the ground. He raised his own arms as far around Apoo as he could, clutching the fabric of the "Roar of the Sea"'s jacket.

"I thought you were going to be busy today," Hawkins mumbled.

"So you weren't listening to the radio?"

The blond grimaced slightly, feeling a twinge of guilt, but his boyfriend laughed.

"Good, that means you didn't hear about the surprise."

Hawkins was relieved that he hadn't upset the other. Apoo gently set Hawkins down and grabbed his hand.

"We have to stop by my house to get your gift, then we'll hang out at your house. Okay?"

Hawkins nodded slightly. Apoo's house wasn't too far from the school and once he ran inside to grab Hawkins' gift (leaving Hawkins waiting in the entrance hall), they walked to the blond's house. Hawkins unlocked his door and let his partner enter first before he did so himself.

The first thing they did was migrate to the living room and sit in front of the heater, which had to be left on in order to keep the house warm enough to survive in. Apoo began setting up the rarely used game system while Hawkins went to his room to change out of his winter clothes into something lighter. On his way out, the magician also grabbed the wrapped package from his bed – he hadn't been sure if he'd see his boyfriend at all that day, so he hadn't brought it with him.

He returned to the living room to see Apoo lounging on the couch, whistling a complicated sounding melody that Hawkins didn't think should be possible to create without an instrument.

"Do you mind if we exchange gifts before we do anything else?" Hawkins asked as he sat next to Apoo.

The older male nodded, smiling widely and offering his own gift first. It turned out to be multiple small items: a pack of silly animated tarot cards (if it had been anyone except Apoo, or perhaps Luffy, who had given him that gift, he would've taken offense, but he knew his boyfriend had little knowledge about the things that he took interest), a Erzulie Dantor Veve Charm** necklace, and a white colored ring. Engraved in black on the ring was what looked like the recordings of a heartbeat from a heart monitor. Apoo fished around in his pocket and pulled out a matching ring, though it was black with a white engraving.

"Check it out; it's a promise ring," he explained excitedly (and perhaps a bit nervously), not noticing the bright pink shade that exploded across his boyfriend's face. "I really didn't know what to get you, and I didn't have enough money for ones with jewels or anything, but-"

Hawkins didn't listen to the rest of Apoo's rambling, instead studying the ring in his hand. It was too big for his fingers, which gave him a clue as to what Apoo wanted to do. So he took the musician's left hand, making the taller male fall quiet, and put the ring on his ring finger. It was Apoo's turn to blush and he quickly did the same to Hawkins. The blond let out a small chuckle and offered his gift.

It was a voodoo doll, handmade of straw with ribbons wrapped around its head and neck. It had black button eyes and limbs that were thinner than sticks. Hawkins felt a bit bad about that being the only thing he had to offer, but he barely made enough money to keep himself in a house and fed without extra factors being added in; when he went out with his friends, it was only when they were willing to pay for him (and they usually were).

"I love it," Apoo laughed. "It's so cute! Is it connected to someone?"

"It's connected to you," Hawkins explained.

The brunet stared at him blankly and the magician realized he'd better explain.

"It's not a curse doll," he continued. "It's meant to protect the person it's connected to from a life threatening wound."

Hawkins always had ten connected to himself at all times***, but no one needed to know that. Apoo looked very relieved, then pulled Hawkins into another hug, laying back on the couch.

"That's very practical," he said, planting a kiss on Hawkins' cheek and fumbling for the tv remote, shutting it off; it seemed he no longer was in the mood for video games. "I love you so much~" he cooed, just to see Hawkins get flustered, which, of course, happened two seconds after he made his declaration.

Hawkins couldn't say it back, not yet, but Apoo didn't seem to mind, hugging Hawkins closer.

"Happy Valentines Day," the magician whispered instead.

Apoo chuckled. "Yeah. Happy Valentines Day."

* * *

 **(A/N: *All the Supernovas except Apoo are transfers to Grandline High from North/South/East/West Blue City, or from the distant Skypeia (sp?).**

 ****Just look up _Erzulie Dantor Veve Charm_ and you'll see what it is. I want one so bad now.**

 *****I will perhaps create a backstory for Hawkins at some point, but I wanted to add something from canon.**

 **Oh, and the card shuffling being a nervous habit was all me right there, and maybe a little headcanon. Agree or disagree, it doesn't matter.)**


	6. Happy Birthday, Sanji! College AU

**(A/N: Happy Birthday, Sanji-kun! I wish I could draw, but I can't, so this chapter will have to do for you~ I decided to just do a fanfic for the birthdays of everyone I know in One Piece... Well, everyone whose birthdays I know. Maybe. Some would be more difficult than others, like Mr. 3 and Hina, whose birthdays are tomorrow, so happy early birthday to them, too, in case I don't manage to write them chapters. Enjoy!)**

* * *

Prompts used: _Person A avoids Person B all day in preparation for their surprise birthday party. Person B feels mixed emotions as Person A averts their gaze and company all day. Finally Person B decides to take a nap and is woken up by Person A and all of their friends holding presents and cake._

 _Person A and B live together in a apartment. Person A always wakes up first and makes breakfast, they always have to drag person B out of bed to eat it._

* * *

Sanji was used to being the first one up. With a roommate like Monkey D. Luffy, who was a bottomless pit, plus the constantly their couch-crasher Roronoa Zoro, it was practically a requirement and, fortunately, one he had no problem with. Living and working in his guardian's restaurant since he was a young child, he had an internal alarm clock for 5:45 am sharp. His new routine since entering college was wake up, take a shower and drain mugs of coffee if he had stayed up late the previous night, then plan for breakfast. He had breakfast done by 6:30, about an hour before the first classes began. Then he'd go into Luffy's room, mention food, and the nineteen year old would be seated at the table within seconds. Next, he'd go to the living area and kick the Marimo off of its dwelling, announcing, "food's on," without a hint of remorse for the rude awakening.

Now that was on a normal day. Living with two morons, there were quite a few abnormal ones as well. Like waking to the scent of smoke.

Sanji was no stranger to kitchen fires; as a child, even with his exceptional skill for being so young, he had set off a few of his own fires. As soon as the scent of smoke hit his nose, he was on his feet and out of his room. The whole kitchen was practically swamped in thick smoke that burned his eyes and lungs. He coughed and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Ugh, stupid thing, just work right!" he heard Luffy whisper-shout somewhere near where the stove should've been.

"I told you that you were doing it wrong!" Zoro scolded from the same direction.

"Shhh," Luffy hissed. "You'll wake Sanji!"

"You already did," the blond deadpanned.

He saw a guilty figure jump in the gray haze and sighed.

"Get out, both of you."

They complied, Luffy hanging his head and Zoro crossing his arms. Sanji fumbled through the cabinets beneath the sink once he found them and got his hands on the fire extinguisher he had bought just in case incidents like the current one. He sprayed the foam onto the stove before approaching and finding the dials, making sure all of them were off before opening the window above the sink and turning on the fan over the stove. How they'd managed to get the smoke so out of hand before the cook had finally noticed, he would never know; he had previously thought only Luffy's brother, Ace, could make fires that bad within a few minutes. He was frustrated beyond belief that the ruined food had to be thrown out, but even he wouldn't dare to attempt to eat the charcoal that remained in the pan. He tossed it out and, once he could see the kitchen somewhat clearly, set to work on making breakfast like every morning, though about an hour earlier than early. How Luffy and Zoro got up willingly so early in the morning, and for what, he wasn't sure.

The smoke finally cleared out – though the scent lingered – by the time he was finished.

"Luffy, Mosshead, get in here and eat," he called, leaning against the counter as he lit himself a cigarette.

The nineteen year old was in first, still looking like a kicked puppy as he sat down in front of his overloaded plate.

"I'm sorry, Sanji," he said, pouting even as he shoveled eggs into his mouth.

Sanji waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine." _Though it better not happen again,_ he thought. "Just let me handle breakfast from now on." _Like I normally do._

By the time Zoro dragged himself to the table, Luffy was pretty much back to his normal self. He tried to steal food from Zoro's plate, but the swordsman effectively put an end to that by almost stabbing Luffy's hand with a fork.

"So what were you two trying to do?" Sanji asked when they were almost finished eating; he was on his second cigarette and waiting for them to be done so he could wash the dishes. "You don't usually get up in the morning so early for something like food. I keep you well fed, don't I?"

Luffy's eyes slowly drifted to the wall, his face becoming beaded with sweat, as if he were about to lie or he was hiding a secret. Sanji's eyes narrowed and he turned his attention to Zoro – Zoro, who never backed down from a challenge, especially from the cook, was also refusing to look him in the eyes. Sighing irritably, the blond put his cigarette out in an ash tray on the counter.

"Fine. I'm going back to bed. Try not to destroy the house."

He left the kitchen (because he could do dishes later) and returned to his nice warm bed. He decided he didn't want to go to his classes. He could just get notes from Ace, Nami, and Usopp later. He woke up about three hours later, at eight in the morning; still early in the day. When he left his room, he nearly fell back in his room as all his friends leaped out of nowhere in the living area and screamed, " **Happy Birthday, Sanji!** ".

Luffy was in the front of the group, beaming his ear-to-ear grin, with Zoro by his side, smirking at the surprised look on the cook's face.

"Birthday...?"

Everyone's expression dropped.

 _"You didn't know it was your birthday!?"_ they all shouted.

He laughed and scratched the back of his head, cheeks becoming rosy. "I didn't think it was March 2nd already."

Luffy laughed. "Shishishi! Doesn't matter! It's your birthday, open your presents already! I wanna eat cake!"

Sanji received a gift from everyone who showed up, and some gifts from a few who hadn't been able to make it. Luffy's gift to him was raw meat to cook; fortunately, it was still freshly cold, so either he's stuck the present in the freezer, or someone did it for him. Zoro had bought him knives – "They're not kitchen knives," he'd said. "So I better not catch you using them for food." Usopp gave him a hand-made device for making sure his knives – both for the kitchen and not – never went dull, and Franky had made the cake, so Sanji didn't mind that he didn't have an actual present. The store bought cakes were usually crap, in the cook's mind, so by scratch was best. Robin gave him a book of Japanese recipes, since all the "Strawhats" (as Luffy referred to their group of close friends as) like the culture's food, and Nami gave him a kiss on the cheek, to which he had claimed he'd "died and gone to heaven" even if he had finally learned two years prior that nothing between them was ever going to happen. In addition to the cheek kiss, though, she added a gift card of 500 beli.

"Don't spend it all in one go," she had warned.

Chopper had created new burn salves and anti-bacterial gauze that he'd crafted himself.

"Guaranteed to stave off infection, in case you get hurt in the kitchen," the high school aged college student had explained shyly.

Brook gave him a few CDs, one that he'd filled with his own songs. The rest of the gifts came from the absent Zeff, Gin, and Ace: a book of Zeff's own recipes, a cowboy outfit (Sanji flushed at this because only Ace would remember how much Sanji had loved cowboys as a child, second only to cooking and finding the mythical sea, the All Blue), and a metal sculpture of all the "Strawhats" standing around the mini-Sanji and looking as if they were wishing him a happy birthday as well.

"These are great, you guys!" he said, grinning. "Thank you!"

Following Luffy's lead, everyone practically dog-piled Sanji in a group hug (Zoro being forced into it by Nami and Luffy).

* * *

 **(A/N: Ta-da! And I got it done in a couple hours! Really, though, Happy Birthday, Sanji! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!)**


	7. Multi-AU B-day of Franky, Mihawk, Shanks

**((A/N: I totally forgot about these birthdays until today and I kind of just typed up a quick one-shot, one for each. They're all pretty short, but I crammed all three into one chapter. Maybe one day, I will go back and edit these rushed clips, but this is all I've got for now, because I have Sabo's to worry about tomorrow.. Forgive me for anything OOC; there's a reason I've never used these three before now. Anyway, happy birthday to Shanks, Franky, and Mihawk!))  
((Oh, also, Mihawk's is a reader-insert. I hope you guys don't mind, but I didn't want to try my hand at Perona when I've never met her, so...))  
**

* * *

 _ **Akagami no Shanks:**_

 **(prompt: My pet ran away, I got fired from my job, it started raining out of nowhere and I fell in the mud, and you're just a random stranger at my bus stop but I really need someone to talk to.)**

Shanks dragged his feet as he approached the bus stop. His clothes were drenched and partly splattered with mud and he felt absolutely exhausted. He sat heavily on one of the benches and, only then, noticed another man was waiting at the stop, too. This man had blond hair (and the way his hair was cut kind of made him look like a pineapple) and, despite the rainy weather, a partly open purple shirt, knee-length shorts, and sandals. The blond looked up and Shanks wasn't surprised to see he had blue eyes, but they were different than any kind of blue Shanks had ever seen before; the color seemed to flicker and illuminated the man's facial features, as if they were made of fire.

"You look like Hell, yoi," the blond commented, looking his redheaded company over.

"You won't believe the day I've had..." Shanks groaned.

* * *

 _"Okay, boys, have a good day!"_

 _Shanks watched his three boys – Ace, Sabo, and Luffy – board the bus before turning to shut the door so he could head to work. Before he could even touch the knob, a bushel of dark gray streaked into the outdoors and down the road._

 _"Benn!" Shanks shouted, shutting the door and nearly tripping because, in his haste, he had shut his shirt in the door. "Damn it!"_

 _It took about an hour to track down his dog, not because he was hard to find, but because he always ran to the same hour-away location. As usual, Benn and the two strays he always ran to – Shanks named the larger on Lucky Roo and the smaller one Yasopp – were sitting beneath a highway, almost directly in the river-sewer mix that flowed through the large grates._

 _"Benn, come on," he called._

 _The hour walk home seemed to drag on because Benn tried to wander off every few minutes, curiously sniffing out anything that caught his attention. When Shanks finally got his dog home and inside, he headed for work, prepared to be scolded for being late...again._

* * *

 _"I'm_ what _?!" Shanks yelped._

 _"You're fired," his (former) boss, Sakazuki, was glaring him, obviously wishing that Shanks would just leave._

 _"Why?"_

 _"You're always late!" Akainu – that was the name he ordered his employees to call him – growled irritably. "If you're never going to be on time, at least come up with a better excuse than 'I was chasing my dog'!"_

 _"But it was true," Shanks protested weakly._

 _"I don't care," his boss said coldly. "Get out."_

 _It was pouring outside and Shanks didn't have an umbrella. He stayed inside his old work place as long as he could, but he knew he had to leave before his boss –_ former _boss – personally kicked him out. Stepping into the rain was like stepping off a boat in the middle of a lake just after winter. It was so cold that Shanks began shivering miserably almost immediately. The rain was like nettles embedding into his skin._

Well, it's not the worst day I've ever had, _he thought, trying to cheer himself up._

 _It would've worked, too, if he hadn't tripped over a crack on the sidewalk and, when leaning back to avoid tipping onto his face, planted himself into the mud on the outside of the sidewalk._

* * *

"...and all on my birthday, too," he added.

The blond looked like he wasn't sure whether to find the story amusing, pitiful, or both.

"Sounds rough, yoi," he finally said. "Happy birthday anyway, Shanks."

"Yeah, thanks."

Actually, besides his kids, the stranger was the only one to say that to him.

"Ah, there's the bus."

Looking up, Shanks realized the blond was right and stood up.

"Thanks for letting me rant," he sighed, smiling slightly as the bus pulled to a stop. "I appreciate-"

His voice trailed off when he looked back and found that the blond was gone and in his seat was a light blue sash and a similarly colored feather. Picking up the items and looking around, he found that his companion was nowhere in sight, as if he'd just...disappeared.

"Hey, you getting on or what?" the old female bus driver – who had interestingly bright green hair – called.

"Yeah..."

Turning, Shanks boarded the vehicle. As he took a seat in the front, holding onto the sash and feather, he realized that though he had never mentioned it, the blond had called him by his name.

* * *

 _ **Cyborg Franky:**_

 **(prompt: you're sculpting a bird and I will never understand how you can possibly get that much detail into a lump of clay the size of my fist)**

Franky always considered himself an exceptional student of crafting, especially when it came to making super freaky things that no one would ever think about. His friends thought it was an awesome talent, too... Well, most of them. Nami and Zoro didn't really care, and it was always hard to tell if Robin truly was interested or not. Luffy and Chopper were always the most impressed though. However, while Franky was amazing at creating detailed devices from scraps of wood and metal and whatever else he had laying around his room or the basement, he couldn't, for the life of him, understand sculpting. That was why he was standing behind an oblivious Usopp, watching the teen forcing a lump of clay into what clearly was a bird.

"Wow, that's pretty good," he found himself admitting when Usopp began using a small knife to carve feathers into the wings.

Usopp jumped and Franky feared for a second that he'd just caused the destruction of a cool project. Fortunately, his fellow inventor had moved the sculpting knife away before it could destroy the wing. He looked up, an expression of slight irritation on his face.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" he stammered.

Franky raised a brow and moved to take a seat next to the dark haired male.

"Long enough to know that you're way better at sculpting that I am."

Usopp laughed nervously, smoothing his thumb over the wing that didn't have any feathers added yet.

"You weren't supposed to find out yet," he admitted.

"Find out what?"

Usopp gave him a look, as if he were joking, then his eyes widened almost comically. "Uh... Oh, I think I've gotten 'I forgot what I was going to say' disease," he said with a fake cough.

Franky was amused at the "discreet" attempt to tell him to go away and stood. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll leave you to your work."

He headed to the kitchen; he'd heard Sanji and Luffy's voices, which meant they were back from the store, and he hoped they'd remembered to buy more cola.

"Damn it, Franky, put on your fuckin' pants!"

* * *

Franky chucked his shirt into the corner as he entered his room, shutting the door behind him with his foot. Everyone had fallen asleep partying for his birthday and he (with a bit of help from a groggy Zoro) helped bring them all to their rooms and dump them on their beds. As he prepared to throw himself on his own mattress, he noticed a pale spot that stood out from the dark blue blankets. He reached down and picked it up, laughing when he realized it was Usopp's bird. He should've figured that it would turn out to be his birthday present; he could do just about anything except sculpt, so it was the perfect gift. He turned to his desk, where he made the blueprints for his projects, and set it up beneath the lamp so it was in view every time he looked or worked at his desk.

* * *

 _ **Dracule Mihawk:**_

 **(prompt: Pet shop au where all the animals adore you and they all loathe me and every time it's my turn to clean/feed the animals you have to help me tame the beasts.)**

You loved animals – why would you work in a pet shop if you didnt? – but they never seemed to return your affection. You had been working in the same pet shop for months now, ever since your turned seventeen, but nothing changed from the first day. The dogs still snarled when you walked past; the cats hissed and clawed when you changed their water; the gerbils bit you when you were removing them from their pen to give to their new owner. You put up with it, sure, but you were sure you would've gone insane had it not been for your co-worker.

Dracule Mihawk was practically a saint in your eyes. He was older than you by quite a bit, but still handsome as sin. He had two kids, a boy named Zoro who was a couple years older than you and a girl named Perona who was your age, who dropped by every day when the pet shop was closing – he'd adopted them, apparently, and that made sense, considering their hair colors.

Mihawk had a way with animals that didn't seem human (in fact, his eyes were kind of intimidating, like a predator's). The dogs whined for his attention, the cats purred in his presence, and even the gerbils squeaked for joy when he passed by. You had learned early on that the best way to handle the little beasts was to have your co-worker nearby and you used that to your advantage when it came to feeding and cleaning time. Mihawk didn't seem to mind; in fact, you'd say that he found it amusing that he had to help you out with such a situation or you were liable to lose a few fingers.

Today, Mihawk had an appointment to keep, so he left Perona and Zoro to help you. The animals didn't seem to like Zoro any more than they liked you, and they all cringed and whimpered and ran when they saw Perona. But between the three of you (mostly thanks to Perona) you managed to get all the cleaning and feeding done, though it took longer than it usually did with Mihawk around.

"Today is Mihawk's birthday," Perona mentioned while you were sweeping the floor.

You looked up, shocked. "He has a birthday?"

Perona released her usual chilling laugh, and Zoro even chuckled. You blushed; you hadn't mean to word it like that.

"Yeah, it's today. The reason he sent us in his place is because his 'best friend' Shanks' birthday is today," Zoro explained.

You mouthed 'oh' and went back to sweeping.

"What does he like?" you asked, trying not to be too obvious about the fact that you wanted to get him a gift.

"Wine," Zoro replied immediately.

"But he doesn't like presents," Perona added.

You deflated, then put up the broom, a new idea coming to mind.

"Okay, hold down the fort," you said before leaving the store in their hands.

Mihawk was waiting outside with Zoro and Perona by the time you reappeared. Perona looked amused and you knew that you looked like a mess, but you weren't too worried about it.

"What happened to you?" Mihawk asked, sounding like he didn't care, though you knew he always sounded like that.

"Doesn't matter," you said dismissively. You hold out the bag in your hand. "Here, happy birthday."

Mihawk looked at Perona and Zoro, who didn't quite meet his gaze, then he looked at you.

"I don't like gifts," he stated.

"It's not a gift," you countered. "It's a surprise."

He didn't look impressed, but he took the bag. He opened it and looked in, pulling out the bottle of expensive wine you'd bought for him, along with a card you'd attached to the side. You had had a little trouble getting it – it was the last bottle and you weren't the only one who'd wanted it – but you won in the end.

Mihawk sighed and put the wine back in the bag. Though he obviously didn't approve, he seemed to have accepted it.

"Since you have forced this...surprise on me, you owe me your company and assistance with sampling this wine," he demanded.

You blinked in surprise while Perona laughed, then smiled and nodded. "Okay!"

Whatever he wanted; it was his birthday, after all.


	8. Elemental Personifications AU

**((Happy late birthday, Sabo! I'm really proud of this chapter...I think. It's not birthday related at all, unlike the last two chapters, so it's also much better, haha. I promise that I'll edit the last two chapters one day, when I get to know Franky outside of the Water 7 and Enies Lobby Arc. Shanks will get a new one, likely involving Buggy or Luffy, and Mihawk? Well, I don't even know. He hasn't shown up a lot yet. R &R, plz~))**

* * *

 ** _prompts used: "The summer sun was not meant for boys like me. Boys like me belonged to the rain."_**

 _ **"Yeah, I have a plan."**_

 _ **"Is it a good one?"**_

 _ **"I have a plan."**_

* * *

 _When Sabo died at the ripe age of twenty-two, the beautiful summer day was only ruined by the squeal of car tires and the expanding puddle that tinted the street red. When Sabo died, he remembered thinking,_ "Thank goodness that kid is okay," _because he could hear the little girl he had pushed out of the way crying and screaming, but she was alive, and that was all that mattered. When Sabo died, it was swift, the pain draining from him along with his blood, with his consciousness following soon after. When Sabo died, he had apparently done something right, because he found himself waking up during a beautiful summer day._

 _Sabo discovered, after a few trial- &-error tests, that he wasn't actually alive. At least, not in the sense that normal people would think. While he was aware of himself and he could see himself, regular people could not. In a way, he was like a ghost. Instead of generating cold spots, however, he found that he radiated heat, much like the sun on a warm day. Wherever he went, summer followed. Whenever he ran, a warm wind was summoned and followed, not just alongside him, but across the whole area he was in, blessing those suffering in sweat outside some relief, even if it was only minimal. He learned to hide himself away when the sun began to dip below the horizon, for the night brought so much pain to him that it felt like he was dying again. He tried not to find shelter in someone's home; in fact, he preferred libraries or some similar public building that no one occupies in the dark._

 _Sabo also discovered on his travels that he wasn't the only one of his kind. He met a boy, about nineteen years of age, who was the embodiment of ambition...literally. Following the boy around for a day – his name, Sabo found out, was Luffy – he witnessed demoralized people spring back to their feet, ready to try again and again to achieve their dreams, as if they had never failed in the first place. He met a blond male who claimed to be twenty-one and smoked a never ending cigarette. Originally from France and named Sanji Vinsmoke, though eh claimed to have disowned his own family name, the blond was able to make people fall in love, and he could break them apart just as easily. He mentioned being able to see peoples' "strings" – "I only focus on the pink 'love' ones, of course," Sanji had said, as if it were obvious that there were more colors. "But I can see the red 'strings of fate' as well." – and bring them together and, if their strings broke, he split them apart, trying to prevent abusive relationships that could lead one of the "happy couple" to death._

 _There were quite a few more than those two. Usopp brought along cowardice and courage, depending on what was needed, essentially controlling a human's fight or flight response. Nami subtly encourage people to use their money wisely, though she was also the cause of shopping sprees. Robin helped people focus on learning, thriving during the days that college students lost sleep while studying for finals. Franky imbued self-confidence (and that meant he had his work cut out for him, considering how many depressed people there were in the world), and Brook led lost souls to the Underworld by luring them with hypnotic music, which doesn't work on "ghosts" like Sabo. But while he met a lot of different members of his kind, he hadn't met all of them._

 _He was reminded of that when he met his first new "ghost" in years: a male by the name of Trafalgar Law._

 _He had been jogging in an empty park during a rainstorm, breaking apart the clouds above with a warm air current. It was then that he bumped into Law, or rather, Law had bumped into him. All Sabo knew at the time was that Law wasn't a regular human – normal humans walked through his kind – and he looked to be suffering from a panic attack, pupils blown wide, making his grey eyes look like the center of storms. Sabo had stopped to support the unsteady male, causing his winds to cease blowing. Once the wind stopped, Law seemed to calm down. After a bit of prodding, Law revealed his name and that he came and went with the rain. The panic attack had been caused by pain, similar to the pain Sabo felt when the sun went down. That made the sun-man feel guilty, so he left and allowed the storm to continue. He didn't see Law again for years afterwards._

* * *

Sabo whistled as he stood on the border of where the world was split...literally and metaphorically speaking. The side he stood on was bright and sunny, the perfect summer day. On the other side, the area was cast in shadows and flooding from downpours; Law was standing along the border as well, arms crossed, as if his will alone would prevent Sabo from taking a step forward and breaking more of his clouds with sunshine.

"End of the world came pretty suddenly, didn't it?" Sabo asked, thinking about the event that led to the extinction of every creature on Earth and, with them, a lot of the "ghosts", such as Brook, who had no one else to guide to Death, and Nami, who had no one to influence about money.

"It seems so," Law said apathetically.

Sabo studied Law. It had been so long since they last met, despite the fact that the sun was always the one to chase away the storm. He swore they had never stood so close to each other. He noticed that Law's skin was tinted blue, as if he'd been dipped into a freezing river and drowned. Sabo sometimes wondered if that was how Law had died.

"I think we should start the world over," Sabo announced, crossing his arms and nodding once.

Law looked at him with a deadpan expression. "I suppose you have an idea on how we should do that."

It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I have a plan."

Law gave him a skeptical look. "Is it a good one?"

"I have a plan," Sabo repeated, laughing a bit nervously.

The tan male sighed and ran his fingers through his soaked hair.

"Alright, tell me."

Sabo grinned and held a hand out, fingers brushed against the rain pour and turning red, steaming. Law hesitated before grabbing it, his own fingers drying and skin cracking beneath the summer sun. Sabo could practically feel Sanji's appearance from behind, but didn't look away from the area beneath his and Law's clasped hand's, where a ray of sunlight and light sprinkling of water touched the wasteland and beckoned out sprouts of green.

Sabo looked up tot see what Law thought and found that he quite liked the child-like wonder he saw on Law's face.

"Told you I had a plan, Tulip Lily."

Law turned his attention away from the tulip lilies* blooming on the ground to Sabo, a half-hearted glare sending chills down Sabo's spine that weren't entirely unpleasant.

"Don't call me that, Sabo-ya."

Sabo snickered at Law's vocal tic and looked around. Sanji had vanished. He returned his gaze to Law.

"Well, let's go decorate the world."

Hand in hand, the rain and sun began to walk, a trail of vegetation forming behind them and at the beginning, a group of flowers that would symbolize the world's rebirth.

* * *

 **((Wow, how cheesy was that ending? There's not much of a romantic quality until the end, sorry. The next SaboLaw chapter I make will mention more ...maybe. I'll try. I hope you guys like it! Please leave a review if you prefer that I don't have an actual birthday elements in the b-day chapters. I was thinking I'd make a second part to chapter one next, so we'll see.))**

 **((*Tulip Lilies – symbolize love and passion...or something like that))**


	9. SanLu Week: Day 1 - Dreams Ambitions

Day 1 (June 20th): Dreams / Ambitions

 **((A/N: The first part (Sanji's part) is after the second One Piece movie, the Clockwork Island one. If you haven't seen it, I really suggest it. You don't have to watch it to understand this story, but there will be a couple references to the events that happened there and it's just a good movie in general. Anyway, enjoy the first day of SanLu Week~))**

* * *

It was a quiet night upon the Going Merry. Everyone was asleep except Usopp, who was on watch, and Sanji. The Straw Hats had only departed from Clockwork Island a couple days before and they were still recovering from the fights they had engaged in. Sanji was finding it particularly hard to sleep, not that he'd admit it to anyone. His feet throbbed in agony whether he was on them or off and his head rang with the constant taunts from Bear King's lackeys. Sanji had never felt so humiliated, mocked for being weak and unable to protect or save himself, much less Nami-swan, who had been depending on him.

At the unpleasant reminder, Sanji chopped the fruit in front of him harder than necessary, coating the counter in juices he would have to clean up, lest he want to risk the appearance of bugs. He had taken to his kitchen after failing to do more than lay in his hammock, staring into the darkness. He had hoped that doing his favorite thing in the world, cooking, would calm his nerves, but while he was taking his frustration out on the food, it just allowed room for more anger to grow.

"Sanji…?"

The chef stopped in the middle of carving off a cantaloupe exocarp at the sound of his captain's voice.

"What are you doing up, Luffy?" he asked as he resumed his actions, putting the hard outer layer into a bowl to mix and use to make a seasoning of sorts at a later time.

"It's my turn for watch." A yawn punctuated that statement.

Sanji sighed and set down his knife, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, along with his lighter, and taking the time to light one up before he turned to face the seventeen year old, who was hovering around the door

"Shouldn't you be out keeping watch, then?" he questioned, though he couldn't exactly make Luffy do anything; Luffy was the captain, after all.

"You're upset," Luffy said, as if that explained his actions. "I thought you'd feel better with some company."

"You thought wrong," Sanji replied flatly, turning back to his fruit and cutting them into smaller pieces.

"What's the matter?"

Sanji listened to Luffy walking past him and plopping onto one of the benches at the table.

"Nothing is wrong, Luffy," Sanji remarked, hoping that the other would just drop it.

There was a blissful silence for a few moments, and Sanji hoped fervently that it would remain that way. No such luck.

"Hey, Sanji?"

"Yeah?"

Sanji put all the sliced up fruit in a bowl separate from their rinds and exocarps and peels and mixed them together. Then he pulled out five smaller bowls, dividing the makeshift fruit salad before wrapping three of the bowls and walking past the table to the fridge, putting them on the top shelf for a snack at breakfast.

"Can you tell me about the All Blue again?"

Sanji paused, then shut the fridge and returned to the counter for the remaining two bowls, which he carried to the table, sitting across from Luffy and passing him one of the bowls.

"Why? I already told you about it back at the Baratie." He couldn't quite recall how long ago that had been.

Luffy looked thoughtful as he stared into the bowl of fruit and Sanji wondered how often that happened outside of fighting for his nakama.

"Well…when you told me about it before, you looked really happy." Luffy beamed. "I want you to smile like that again, even if you're just repeating what you said before!"

Sanji blinked in surprise, then looked away, breathing out smoke around his cigarette.

"Alright, I'll tell you."

When he turned his attention back to Luffy, the younger boy was watching him intently, just like when Sanji had first talked about the ocean of miracles. Sanji couldn't stop his lips from stretching into a grin.

"You see, in the All Blue…"

* * *

Luffy laid atop Merry's head, hands folded beneath his head as he stared up at the darkening skies. He ached from all the burns he'd received. The pirates that the Straw Hat crew had engaged in battle with were a lot stronger than they had anticipated and one had surprised Luffy with a burning cannonball to the gut. They were taken down eventually, of course, but without a medic on board, there was only so much to be done, with an equally banged up Usopp and Sanji working as the "medical team".

"Hey, Luffy, it's time for lunch," Sanji called upon opening the door to the galley / lounge, hoping to get a response.

"I'm not hungry," the rubber man replied.

All his nakama turned their attention to him. Usopp opened his mouth to say something, but Sanji interrupted him after one last glance towards the captain.

"Alright. Everyone else, get in the kitchen. Nami-swan, I made you a delectable fruit smoothie, my dear~"

With hearts in his eyes, Sanji led Nami inside first, Zoro and Usopp following behind. Once inside, Sanji's demeanor changed almost instantly, though he was still polite because of the lady present.

"Leave Luffy alone," he said. "I'll talk to him later."

Zoro grunted and sat at the table. Nami and Usopp hesitated, looking ready to protest.

"It's fine, isn't it?" he asked. "Come, let's eat."

After lunch, under Sanji's watchful eyes, Nami went to her room, Usopp got to work continuing minor repairs for the Merry, and Zoro went to the aft of the ship to work out. Sanji re-entered the galley to do the dishes, giving himself time to think about how to confront Luffy. The gomu-gomu man's mood was affecting everyone already, and not positively. After finishing the dishes and putting them away, Sanji dried his hands with a towel before leaving the galley and walking across the deck to the bow of the ship..

"Mind if I join you?"

Luffy didn't say anything, but he moved over a little. Sanji took that as an invitation and climbed onto the sheep figurehead. He sat next to Luffy, staring out to sea at the fading sun as his captain watched the stars come out.

"You know, we're all okay," he started. "Nobody got too badly injured. Except you, of course."

Luffy was quiet for a moment more before whispering, "None of you should've gotten hurt. I started the fight, not them. I just… I thought it'd be fun, to fight another pirate crew. We don't run into a lot of them out here."

 _Probably because we're so close to entering the Grand Line_ , Sanji thought.

"We're going to face a lot stronger pirate crews on our journey," Sanji pointed out. "That crew might've been one that tested the Grand Line's waters and discovered that they didn't have what it took. So, in a way, we had them beat right from the beginning. Because once we enter the Grand Line, we're not planning on turning back, are we?"

Sanji looked over at Luffy, who was looking back at him. A smile tugged at the corner of the captain's lips.

"No, we're not."

Sanji gave an approving nod, which made Luffy smile wider.

"You're not doubting your prowess to become the Pirate King, are you?"

"Of course not!" Luffy sat up, twisting to face Sanji, face alight with glee. "In fact, I want to become the King of the Pirates more than ever! We're so close to the entrance of the Grand Line!"

"We're going to get hurt along this journey, Luffy. We're going to collect scars and lose battles, but that's further incentive to get stronger and fulfill our dreams, right?"

Luffy nodded. "Like with what happened on Clockwork Island."

Sanji smiled. "Exactly." He had quit being quite so bitter about _that_ particular adventure after his late night discussion with Luffy. "So we're in agreement, then."

Luffy tilted his head. "Eh?"

"You are going to bounce back from any fight we get into, whether we win or we lose, and I'm not going to doubt myself, right?"

The captain beamed. "Yep! Shishishi!"

They fell into a more comfortable silence, until Luffy's stomach growled.

"Sanji, I'm hungry…"

Sanji chuckled and lit up a cigarette before standing and jumping from Merry's head to the deck. "Come on, I'll whip you up something."


	10. SanLu Week: Day 2 - Cooking

**(A/N: Today is the second day of SanLu Week! I hope everyone enjoyed my last chapter! I had a little trouble writing this one, since I kind of skipped it until today, but then at one this morning, I got a few ideas, so hopefully this turns out alright. Please enjoy!)**

* * *

It had been Nami's idea to stop at the small island that came into view, despite it not being where the log pose was directing them.

"We've been at sea for a couple weeks now, and if Luffy manages to damage the Sunny in some way, _again_ , Franky might just finally kill him," she argued. "We'll ask around and if the log pose is supposed to set overnight, then we'll just stay for the day."

Of course, the announcement of the upcoming island appealed to everyone and no one wanted to stay behind and watch the ship.

"Could you please do it, Sanji?" Nami has asked so sweetly.

Sanji could never say no to a lady and soon found himself alone on the Thousand Sunny. At first he hadn't minded it – aside from the initial unhappiness about leaving restocking food to Usopp and Brook – and occupied himself with finishing up a few abandoned chores while grumbling about how lazy some of his crew mates were. But even that only kept his mind occupied for so long. He had long since grown used to noise – aboard the _Orbit_ , the Baratie, and now within the Straw Hats – and the sudden, lasting silence made Sanji's skin crawl uncomfortably. So he lit a cigarette and went to the tree swing, sitting on it and inhaling the calming nicotine-laced smoke leisurely. The waves were a comforting sound at night, but right now, accompanied by the silence, all he could think about was...

* * *

Luffy was practically salivating, able to smell the food from the large pack Usopp had strapped to his back. Usopp said that he and Brook finished shopping, but they wanted to explore more, so they wanted him to bring the food back to Sanji. He's protested heavily until they mentioned that Sanji might thank him by cooking him a lot of meat to eat all by himself. So now he was sprinting for the Sunny, biting his lip as he fought off the delicious temptation of taking food from the pack and sneaking a few before-meat snacks.

"Sanji!" Luffy hollered as he launched himself off the edge of the dock and onto the ship easily. He saw Sanji sitting on the swing, slowly pushing himself back and forth, holding his cigarette between his right pointer and middle finger and gazing off in the distance. "Sanji~" he sang, bounding closer. "I brought..."  
He trailed off when he saw that the hand holding Sanji's cigarette was trembling. Sanji's hands _never_ shook. He was confident and strong, and his hands were always steady, whether he was stitching up someone's ankles or cooking up a big feast. Luffy moved even closer, leaning in.

* * *

"Oi! Sanji!"

Sanji blinked away the memories of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion to find his captain's face inches from his own. His automatic reaction was to reach up and shove Luffy's face away, annoyed when the captain's neck merely stretched while his body didn't move.  
"What do you want, Luffy?"

Luffy stared at him with an unreadable expression for a moment, then grinned widely, reaching up to peel Sanji's hand away from his face, clasping it tightly.

"Teach me how to cook, Sanji!"

The chef visibly paused, obviously not expected that response. He'd expected the usual whining and pleading for food.

"Look, I even brought you the stuff Usopp and Brook got!" Luffy pulled one hand away from Sanji's own to gesture to the big bag over his shoulder. "Please?"

"...why?"

He didn't think his captain would have the patience to learn how to properly prepared meals. (But then again, he hadn't thought that Luffy would become bored enough to ask to read a book, either.)

Luffy smiled again, but it was different, softer, almost. "Because Sanji likes to cook."

That was...

"And I'm hungry!"

...exactly what he was expected.


	11. SanLu Week: Day 3 - Summer

**(A/N: I'm back with another addition to SanLu Week! This time the prompt was Summer and I went back to when the Merry was around, so this would be before Water 7. Please enjoy this chapter and look forward to tomorrow's prompt: Outfit Swap!)**

"Aaaaah, it's so hot…" Luffy whined, spread out on the middle of Merry's deck with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as if to further prove his point.

Sanji rolled his eyes from where he sat on the stairs, fanning himself with a magazine Robin had helpfully provided.

"No shit, moron. We're approaching a summer island."

"Why…?" Chopper whimpered from where he was sprawled near Luffy. "I'm a reindeer. I wasn't made for summer…"

"Stop complaining," Nami scolded. "Once we get there, we'll see if we can haggle some shop out of floaties for you two, alright?"

The two idiots were on their feet almost immediately, cheering at the top of their lungs as if they hadn't just recently been plastered to the wood of Merry as if it were their salvation. Sanji had to agree with their enthusiasm, however. He was so hot, he couldn't even fawn over how cute Nami-swan was when she was annoyed.

"Sanji, could you go and make everyone something cool to drink?" Nami suggested sweetly.

"Yes, or I'm afraid those three will spontaneously combust under the sun," Robin added nonchalantly as she pointed to where Luffy, Chopper, and _Usopp_ were back to being draped across various parts of the ship.

"Of course, my dears," Sanji agreed, standing and wiping sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand.

Sanji wasn't dressed in one of his normal suits - he wasn't _that_ desperate to look good in front of the ladies - but he kept a shirt on, unlike the other men of his crew. He swept into the kitchen, relieved to be free of the sweltering heat. He went to the fridge and opened it, goosebumps rising on his skin from the slight cold. He quickly grabbed a few different fruits, then shifted his attention from the fridge to the freezer, pulling out ice and going to the counter to make something chilly for his crew to enjoy until they could get into the water.

"Sanji, are you done yet?" Luffy complained upon entering the lounge / galley.

"No," the chef sighed, though he did make some effort to work faster before his captain could complain even more.

xXxline breakxxx

The rest of the journey was filled with continuous cold drinks being served by Sanji. Upon arriving at their summer island destination, Usopp and Zoro dived into the ocean almost desperately. Sanji slumped onto one of the benches, exhausted and hot. He hadn't allowed himself time to drink anything besides water to allow his nakama to always have something tasty and hydrating.

"Sanji!"

The door slammed open to reveal Luffy, who looked excited and energetic again, a cup in his hand that was half-empty.

"We're at the summer island! It has a beach and everything! Nami and Robin went to get floaties for Chopper and I, and…"

His sudden silence piqued Sanji's interest enough to look up.

"What…"

Luffy suddenly shoved his cup forward, almost hitting Sanji in the nose with it.

"Here, you wanna try it?"

Sanji frowned, wondering if the heat was getting to Luffy's brain because there was no possible way he was willing to share anything he can consume himself.

"I'm fi-"

"Drink it. Captain's orders."  
Sanji sighed, but accepted the cup. With Luffy watching him intently, Sanji sipped the fruity beverage. It was good, and he said so. Luffy beamed.

"Isn't it? You did make it, after all, shishishi!"

They heard Nami calling from outside and Luffy grabbed Sanji's arm, pulling him up.

"Come on, Nami's back with the floaties! Let's go swimming!"


	12. SanLu Week: Day 4 - Outfit Swap

**(A/N: Day 4 of SanLu Week! Prompt: Outfit Swap. I had a lot of fun writing this, adding in some hint of slash. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, too!)**

* * *

Sanji decided he despised truth or dare.

"Come on, you have to do it!" Usopp encouraged, backed up by a snickering Zoro and giggling Nami.

"Yosh, let's go already!" Luffy hollered from the doorway of the galley, launching an arm to wrap around Sanji.

"Shit," Sanji managed before he was pulled backwards and slammed into the captain, knocking them both into the room.

Arms sprouted around the doorway, shutting the door and barricading it as the cook shouted profanities.

"You think he'll really do it?" Nami asked skeptically.

"I hope so," Chopper said.

* * *

After untangling his limbs from Luffy's and getting to his feet, Sanji kicked the younger man in the ass, booting him across the galley.

"What was that?" he shouted. "I could've died!"

"But you didn't," the rubberman pointed out as he sat up, grinning and not effected by the kick. "Now strip."

Sanji's face went red – Luffy couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger – and he crossed his arms tightly.

"No way in Hell, you idiot," he growled.

Luffy's expression turned serious and cold sweat beaded on Sanji's temple as the other stood up and started approaching him.

* * *

Everyone - except - Zoro jumped when Sanji started screaming. Luffy's laugh had them relaxing again, though. Robin closed her eyes and Nami leaned over to her.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

Robin chuckled. "Luffy is helping Sanji discard his clothes."

Zoro and Franky started laughing while Usopp paled and Nami blushed.

"That idiot," the navigator huffed.

"There's no way Sanji would participate in the dare without some persuasion," Brook pointed out.

Everyone nodded in agreement. The screaming stopped and a few minutes later, Robin opens her eyes and settles her hands in her lap, cherry blossom petals drifting around the door. It opened and Luffy exited first, beaming proudly. He had on Sanji's clothes. Sanji's pants were visibly rolled at the waist, and the shirt was only half tucked in and half buttoned up. The jacket hung loosely around his shoulders and the tie was hanging around his neck, but not knotted. Luffy still had on his sandals, but there was no sign of his hat. He turned to look into the galley.

"Sanji, come on!" he called. "Everyone wants to see you!"

The rest of the crew were yelling out encouragement and finally Sanji shuffled to the doorway.

Luffy's shorts didn't seem too tight or too loose, though they were shorter on Sanji than on Luffy. Luffy's shirt seemed to fit a bit better, though there was space between the waistband of the shorts and the hem of the shirt. Luffy's hat sat atop his head and shadowed his eyes, though it didn't hide the pink tint on Sanji's cheeks. He, like Luffy, wore his own shoes.

"I think you look _super_ in each others clothes," Franky spoke up first.

"Oh my, yes," Brook agreed. "They suit you both."

The rest of the crew, aside from Zoro and Robin, spoke up their own compliments; each one made Sanji look more embarrassed while Luffy just laughed and wrapped an arm around his cook.

"Alright, let's continue the game!" he cheered, dragging the blond down to rejoin the group.


	13. SanLu Week: Day 5 - Daily Life

_**(A/N: Happy SanLu Week! Welcome to Day 5's chapter. The prompt was Daily Life. It was a lot harder to write than I'd anticipated, actually, but I had fun all the same. I hope everyone likes the chapter!)**_

* * *

Sanji woke up to the snores and various sleeping noises his male nakama made. He got up and groped around for where he left his suit. It didn't take long to find it; dressing in the dark was practically instinct by now, so much so that he could do his tie without seeing it. He tripped over the assorted limbs of whoever had fallen out of bed in the night. He cursed softly and kicked the limbs closer to the barely-visible lumps that were bodies and made his way to the main deck. He took a deep breath of the cool, salty pre-dawn air before lighting up a cigarette from the pack that had been awaiting in his jacket pocket. He leaned against a side railing and took his time enjoying the nicotine-laced smoke. Then he put out the cigarette on the bottom of his shoe and tossed the rest of of it overboard. Afterwards, he did a few stretches before heading into the kitchen to begin on breakfast. XxxlinebreakxXx Luffy woke to the scent of food, announced by Sanji a few seconds afterwards.  
"Meat!" the captain roared as he bolted to the main deck, stepping on Usopp's stomach in the process.  
"Luffy...!" the sniper gasped out, ignored by his fellow seventeen year old.  
Luffy launched himself into the galley, salivating at the delicious feast laid out on the table.  
"Sugoi!" he cheered.  
"Don't dig in just yet, moron," Sanji said, kicking Luffy in the face when he lunged for the food. "Wait until Nami-swan and Robin-chwan have their plates."  
Luffy sat at the table and cast a kicked-puppy look towards his cook, who didn't even look at him, focusing on Robin, who had joined Sanji in the kitchen half-an-hour after he woke up. The rubber man whined and groaned until Sanji gave an irritated sigh. By that time, Nami, a disgruntled Usopp, Chopper, and Brook had joined them at the table.  
"Alright, shitty rubber, go ahead," he sighed.  
Luffy immediately cheered up, beaming, and piles food onto his plate before digging in hungrily.

* * *

After breakfast, Sanji did the dishes and remembered a time when there used to be leftovers all the time from people who ate his food. Thanks to Luffy, and the rest of the crew, there were hardly ever leftovers for him to preserve for a later time. Plus he got to try new meals a lot, trying to adjust his cooking style to match the tastes of each specific member.  
After breakfast dishes, and before lunch, Sanji went through his food supplies, both to make sure the idiot trio – made up of Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy – weren't sneaking snacks and to make a list of what he'd need to buy at the next island, not to mention noting down the general price for them so he could get belis from Nami-swan at the next island for resupplying the ship.

In-between breakfast and lunch, Luffy would fish with Usopp, Chopper, and Brook. If they managed to catch anything, they immediately tossed it into the tank before rushing down to see how it interacted with the other fish; they wouldn't want a repeat of their shark incident. Brook had trembled down to his very bones ( _"Though, I'm nothing but bones. Yohohoho!"_ ) when they told him the story.  
After fishing – or attempting to fish – Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy would play tag. Around this time, Sanji came out of the kitchen with drinks, delivering to the ladies first while kicking away stray hands, then allowing the rest of the crew to grab their less flashy, but no less delicious, drinks. Sanji and Zoro would also break into a fight around this time.

* * *

At lunch, Luffy would beg Sanji to cook _lots_ of meat. Sanji would usually boot Luffy out with an irritated growl. But sometimes Sanji would smile agree, letting Luffy sit on the counter and watch him. Luffy would always be captivated and try to sneak some of cooking food; Sanji would always bat his hand away with a grumble, but wouldn't kick Luffy out, since he knew the captain was just trying to screw with him. Lunch took the same amount of time to finish as breakfast. When it came down to everyone eating, though, they took their time, having conversations over the meal and discussing what they wanted to do on the next island. Sanji leaned against a counter and smoked a cigarette while the others ate, content to just watch them.

After lunch, Sanji cleaned up the dishes with the assistance of Usopp, Zoro, or Luffy. Then they'd go off to do their own things and Sanji would find an isolated spot to stretch out his limbs in positions that would make the rest of the crew cringe (aside from Luffy, of course). If Luffy was bored, he'd join Sanji and they'd have a contest on who could be more flexible. Luffy always won, but Sanji impressed him more than once.

* * *

Dinner was a good affair, though dessert brought on more delight, especially from Chopper and Luffy. Afterwards, it was time for everyone to go to bed. Sanji stayed on the deck after everyone went to sleep, smoking his last cigarette of the day. Luffy approached him and pulled him into a hug.  
"Goodnight, Sanji," he mumbled.  
"Yeah, night, Luffy," the chef replied.  
The captain beamed and disappeared into the men's room. Sanji chuckled softly as he tossed his cigarette overboard and followed the future King of the Pirates' lead.


	14. SanLu Week: Day 6 - Alternate Universe

_**(A/N: Yosh! I've been eagerly awaiting this day! As much as I loved the other prompts, especially the Outfit Swap one, I prefer writing AUs. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter like all the others!)**_

* * *

When Luffy had received a demon summoning book from Robin for Christmas, he had been ecstatic. As soon as the Christmas party had ended and everyone went home, he opened to a random page. Skimming the paragraphs, 'food' and 'cook' stuck out to him and he immediately knew that he had to try that one first.

"Sanji Vinsmoke..." he mumbled, reading the name of the demon he'd be calling from the underworld.  
Putting all his concentration and desire for good food into the forefront of his mind, he read off the words on the page, stumbling over pronunciations that multiple classes of Latin still couldn't embed in his brain. When he finally reached the end, he noticed that the room was illuminated by more than the lamp in the corner; a glowing white vortex had formed on the wall across from him. He slowly approached it as a dark shape emerged from the center.

The demon arising from the portal had blond hair with long bangs covering the left side of his face. The unnatural curl in his eyebrow had Luffy stifling a laugh. His visible eye was glacier blue and he some scruff on his chin. His top half was clad in nothing and Luffy wondered if he would come out fully nude. He decided to check the book again to see if there was anything in it that explained the lack of clothes. Before he could, though, the demon let out a startled yelp and Luffy found him pressing his hands against the wall and straining to pull himself out of the portal, which was shrinking around him. When it reached his skin, it stopped, the white light barely visible as it laid against his skin.

"What the fuck did you do?" the demon demanded.

"Eh?"

"Did you say the incantation wrong or something?"

Luffy pursed his lips and looked to the side as all the words he probably mispronounced came to mind. "Nuh uh. No I didn't."

Sanji gaped at him in disbelief. _What a terrible liar!_

"Help me out of here, then," the chef demon growled.

Luffy approached him and reached out. Sanji grabbed his hands and the seventeen year old began pulling. He grunted and a look of concentration overtook him as he placed both feet flat against the wall and pulled with all his strength. Sanji yelped again and Luffy released him with a surprised yell. He went crashing onto the floor, but bounced up as if the fall hadn't stunned him.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Sanji slumped, groaning. "No. That hurt... Can't you call for help?"

Luffy tilted his head and stared blankly. Sanji sighed. "There should be a number for a help line on the book you used to summon me."

"Ooh," Luffy said, picking up his book and turning it over and upside down until he spotted a phone number on the back. He dug out his cell phone and typed the number in wrong three times before he finally got the correct order. He sat on the floor in front of his demon as he was told he would be put on hold until someone could get to him. He put the phone on speaker as he waited. In that time, he decided to get to know Sanji.

The two of them talked until Sanji cut himself off with a pained grimace. Luffy's eyes widened when he saw thick black blood trickling down his wall. The vortex had closed further around Sanji, digging into his skin. At that time, there was a voice over the phone.

"Is this the help line?" When he got a confirmation, Luffy cheered. "Finally! I've been waiting on the phone for hours! Okay, listen, I followed all the instructions, but the demon I tried summoning is stuck halfway through. I don't know what I did wrong..." Here, Luffy looked to the side with pursed lips again and Sanji rolled his eyes. "...but this is very uncomfortable for us both. Please help. I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and the demon is Sanji Vinsmoke." There was a slight change in Sanji's expression at his last name, but Luffy pretended not to notice.

The person over the phone promised to send someone over to free Sanji, then hung up. Luffy beamed and turned to his demon.

"Shishishi! You'll be free soon!"

* * *

The person who arrived was known as Jewelry Bonney. Sanji flirted with her, despite how she ignored him, and Luffy laughed as he watched her go through the process of reopening the portal. Once she had it open, Luffy grabbed Sanji's hands again and managed to pull him through this time. He was actually clothed on the lower half with jeans that hung low on his hips and sneakers with the laces untied. As he stood on the floor finally, Luffy's eyes traced the thin cut that wrapped around Sanji's abdomen.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Sanji smiled and nodded as Bonney let the portal shut. Luffy handed her belis and she left without another word. Luffy turned back to his demon just as the cut sealed itself closed, leaving behind a barely-visible scar.

"What did you call me here for?" Sanji asked.

Luffy grinned. "I want food! Lots of meat!"

The demon chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "That's usually not what I'm called for." Luffy blinked and tilted his head, but Sanji continued before he could ask. "But tell you what. If you get me a shirt, I'll see what I can do about cooking you up a feast."


	15. SanLu Week: Day 7 - Free Day

_**(A/N: It's the final say of SanLu Week. I had so much fun celebrating this week with other One Piece, Sanji, and Luffy fans! Today was a Free Day, so I decided to write an AU where Luffy is the Pirate King and the All Blue was one of the last dreams that needed to be conquered. I hope everyone enjoys it!)**_

* * *

"That was some adventure, huh?" Luffy chuckled.

"Only you would think so, shitty rubber," Sanji replied sourly, sitting side-by-side with his captain.

The rubberman laughed. "Shishishi, I suppose so. But we achieved our goals, right?"

Sanji gave a mournful groan. "The All Blue was within my grasp, then the damn marines had to show up and give us a hard time."

Luffy nodded, shifting into a more comfortable position, or as comfortable as he could be with his Devil Fruit abilities nullified by sea prism stone handcuffs. The movement made his captain's coat scrape against the wall of the brig aboard the Navy ship they were stuck on.

"What would you have wanted to catch first?"

Sanji glanced over at the younger male and grinned. "Elephant Tuna. Just like we found at the beginning of our adventure."

Luffy moaned at that. "Mm, that would've tasted _so good_."

Sanji grinned. "Damn right, it would. I'd mix it with more fish from the other three seas and it would've been the best dish you'd've ever tasted."

Luffy squirmed in his bonds, stomach growling. " _Sanji_ , you're making me hungry! When we get out of here, you have to make me a great big feast!"

Sanji chuckled. "Tell you what, Luffy, if we get out of this alive, then I'll cook you up whatever you want."

The Pirate King's eyes lit up like stars. "Really?" When his cook nodded, he beamed. "Yosh! The others better hurry up! I want my meat!"

"Hey, shut up down there!" one of the marines shouted across the brig.

The two pirates fall silent for a moment, then snicker.

"Hey, Sanji?"

The blond turned his attention back to his cell mate, who smiled brightly.

"I'm really glad you became my nakama."

Sanji smiled. "It was an honor to be crew mates with the King of the Pirates." He paused, then smiled even wider. "And I think you're about to get your meal."

There was an explosion and the shouts of panicked marines above deck. Luffy laughed as the sounds of Zoro's blades and Franky's cannons sounded, as well as the crackle of fire from Usopp's well-timed shots.

"Shishishi, our nakama are here! Let's go! Back to the All Blue!"

Sanji smirked as Robin and Chopper entered the brig. "I'm on board with that plan, captain."


	16. 32 Days of Sanji, Prompt 1: Family

Sanji's first family was aboard the _Orbit_. He tried not to think about the family he'd left behind at nine years old before becoming a trainee chef. When he left, he'd ran to the docks and boarded the first ship he'd come across. He was found hiding in a supply closet a week into the journey and by then it was too late to throw him overboard or drop him off at home. So he was sent to the kitchens to be taught how to cook. The chefs already working on the cruise ship were impressed by how quickly he picked up cooking. He didn't see why it was so surprising; he needed to cook in order to earn his keep, so that's what he learned to do. He had to admit, he never had so much fun doing something. Cooking became his soul. During the year-long journey towards the East Blue, he cooked and served food to the people residing on the cruise ship. He got to experience their pleased expressions after tasting the food he made himself.

During his free time, he read books about the East Blue cultures, trying to learn as much as he could about a place so different from his cold home. During his time reading, he found a book about the All Blue. He'd read a similar book before he came to be on the _Orbit_ , it being his favorite, even more than his rare book about Devil Fruits and the abilities they gave the people who ate them. The All Blue became his dream – he was free from his family's expectations and he could do with his freedom what he wanted, and he was determined to find the All Blue one day, even if his fellow chefs claimed it to be a myth.

* * *

When Sanji met Zeff, he definitely wouldn't have imagined that he'd look up to the shitty old geezer, much less see him as a father figure. No, all Sanji could focus on was the fact that the damn pirate was a risk to his dreams, which he wanted accomplish with all his might. Being stuck on a barren rock for weeks on end – at least two months, if not more – with nothing to gaze upon except the cruel sea that had stranded them was taxing on the ten year old's mind. Discovering that the ex-pirate had not only given all of the food to him, but had eaten his own leg to survive, did little to ease Sanji's fear of dying without ever beginning his journey for the All Blue. But then he found that the old geezer shared his dream and even had a new one in their seemingly hopeless situation: to start a restaurant in the sea to feed hungry travelers and that would never turn anyone away, even if they couldn't pay. Sanji was determined to help Zeff accomplish that goal; his own dream would be put on hold for as long as it had to be.

Being rescued – finally, _finally_ saved – didn't feel real. The people aboard the ship were sort of shady ***** , but kept to themselves and let Sanji and Zeff eat and drink their fill. Sanji never would've imagined that a stomachache would feel _so good_ , and if it weren't for the watery eyes of the normally stoic Zeff, he would've felt ashamed of the tears coursing down his face. He never wanted to miss a meal again, and he never wanted to know that someone else was suffering a similar fate, but without anyone to help them. He and Zeff would make the sea restaurant a pinnacle of light for those who were hungry.

The addition of Patty and Carne to the crew of the _Baratie_ was the beginning of the broadening Sanji's new family. They often argued with him and treated him like he didn't know a thing about cooking – as if they could talk – but at times they could actually be helpful when he's trying out a recipe Zeff gave him to learn that they already knew and vice versa. Slowly, more and more cooks – often ex-pirates, just like Zeff – joined the group, and soon enough there were more than enough to cater to the requests of the slowly increasing amounts of people. Word got around about their sea restaurant and soon people were flocking to it from all over the East Blue and, though rare, even from the other Blues of the world.

* * *

Sanji refused to look at the other cooks as he walked past them with his few belongings in hand.

"Let's go," he told one Monkey D. Luffy, who would become his Captain along his journey to the Grandline.

"You don't need to say goodbye?" the brat inquired.

"No need," he sighed, moving to climb aboard the boat.

"Hey, Sanji." He paused when he heard Zeff's voice. "Don't catch a cold."

He felt his eyes water, even as he tried to keep his expression passive. He abruptly turned, calling out to the man who had been his family for the past nine years. He dropped to his knees, head bowed low enough to touch the boards of the Baratie below him. He thanked him with a watery voice and was surprised to find the other chefs crying and exclaiming that they'd miss him when he raised his head. He waved goodbye to them as the boat set off, with him on board, until they were out of sight. Then he turned his attention to his new family, eager to rescue the lovely Nami and get to the Grandline, perhaps extending their group along the way. After all, as he learned with his experience aboard the Baratie, you could never extend the family too much.

* * *

( ***** Here I used a theory I saw recently on Youtube about Sanji and Zeff possibly being rescued by Revolutionaries.)


	17. 32 Days of Sanji, prompt 2: Love

32 Days of Sanji: Love

"Hey guys, does something seem off about Sanji?" Chopper tentatively asked one day out of the blue.

The Straw Hats were closing in on a summer island and the young reindeer was swinging with Luffy beneath the tree's shade. Usopp, who was fishing with Brook, turned to look at the doctor, along with the other members of the crew.

"What do you mean, Chopper?" the sharpshooter quizzed.

With everyone's attention on him, Chopper began tapping his hooves together shyly. "Well, uh..."

"Now that you mention it," Nami interrupted, taking pity on the doctor, "he didn't perform his 'love tornado' or throw much flattery on Robin or I while delivering our drinks today."

The archaeologist merely nodded in agreement.

"He hasn't been getting much sleep, either," Brook added, drawing everyone's attention to him. "As you know, I don't technically sleep, as I have no need for it in my current state. Late at night, Sanji often gets up and leaves the room for hours, only to return for rest an hour before his usual waking time."

Everyone shared confused looks (except Zoro, who returned to his exercises, and Robin, who returned to her book).

"Does anyone know-" Nami begins, only to be halted by the galley door being opened as Sanji announced that it was time for lunch.

Everyone, including Robin and Zoro, turned to look at him. Faint bruises marred the underside of his visible eye and his skin was paler than usual. Sanji balked under the scrutiny of his nakama.

"Is something wrong?" he asked slowly.

"No," they all replied simultaneously, and Sanji's shoulders hunched slightly as the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

He retreated into the kitchen and the others resumed their conversation, Robin leading it this time.

"He's been having a lot of nightmares," she pointed out as she stood, not revealing how she came by that information. "Perhaps we should do something to put him at ease?"

Franky agreed that it was a _super_ idea, along with Luffy, Chopper, Brook, and Usopp. Zoro said it was dumb and ' _the stupid cook should get over it_ ' until a punch from Nami and cold look from Robin dragged him on board.

"I bet it's because we're close to a summer island ***** ," Luffy spoke up as they filed into the galley.

Usopp scoffed. "You idiot. Why would it be because of that?"

After dinner, Sanji asked to turn in early; Usopp offered to do dishes and the cook was bid a goodnight from a majority of the crew. As soon as he left, the planning begin.

xXxlinebreakxXx

The next morning, Sanji was up at his usual time. He'd managed to sleep all through the night – definitely not because Chopper slipped a few pills into his food – but was still bone-tired from the nightmares. As he approached the galley door, he was surprised to find a sticky note on the front. Suspicious and assuming it was an excuse from Usopp about why the dishes weren't done, he took it down and read it.

 _'I love you for making me meat and other foods. ~Luffy'_

Sanji was confused, but didn't crumple the note as he entered the kitchen, setting it on the counter and smoothing the top so it would stick to the counter and not blow away as he moved around to make sure all the dishes were back in their proper places. He lit a cigarette and opened the window so the place wouldn't fill with smoke. As he went to the fridge, he found another note stuck to the front.

 _'I love you for keeping everyone healthy and well-fed. ~Chopper'_

Sanji's heart warmed slightly. Those two could be idiots, but they were kind to make him notes. He set Chopper's by Luffy's and took out what he'd need to make breakfast from the fridge. He laid the foods out methodically along the counter and went to grab a pan. The top pan was his choice and as he lifted it, he barely caught the note that fell from it.

 _'I love you for being brave when I can't. ~Usopp'_

Ah, so the entirety of the idiot trio was in on it. Sanji smiled; he'd have to thank them...perhaps with a spectacular breakfast. And that was what he did. After breakfast, with dishes cleaned and put away once more, Sanji went out to tend to Nami-swan's precious tangerines. As he moved to approach them, a sticky note impaled on a branch at the front caught his attention and he bit lightly on the end of his cigarette. If one of those idiots thought screwing with Nami-swan's things were going to make him happy...

 _'I love you for being a gentleman...mostly. ~Nami'_

Sanji's heart did a little flop and he almost went to find the navigator, but he decided not to and did what he had to with her tangerines before returning to the kitchen and putting up the new note with the others he had stuck to the wall (where he could look at them while cooking). As it was nearing lunch, Sanji was taking a cigarette break and leaned on the rails next to Robin-chwan's flowers. He saw a yellow hue out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to see another note, laying next to a flower stem.

 _'Thank you for trying. ~Robin'_

Sanji wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to imply...but the note was from one of his lovely ladies, so he wouldn't dare try to bother her for more information on the cryptic message. After lunch, Sanji found two more notes at different sections of the ship. One was in the bathroom, on the mirror (and he tried not to let it creep him out that his nakama were watching his every moves and knew where he was going next).

 _'I love you for your unwavering loyalty and determination. ~Brook'_ it read.

Sanji appreciated the message...though it'd be more appreciated if Brook hadn't somehow known when he was going to the bathroom so the note could be left. The other had been flown, as a mini paper seagull, into his face while he was on his way to deliver Nami-swan and Robin-chwan their drinks.

 _'I love you for being a_ _ **super**_ _bro! ~Franky'_

Leave it to Franky to be really into the act of note giving. Sanji felt lighter than he had in a long time. As he went to the galley to make dinner, he found an empty bottle of sake out on the counter. He scowled, already knowing who the culprit was, but didn't storm out the rip the Marimo a new one when he saw the note on the side of the bottle.

 _'I hate you. But you have (some of) my respect. ~Zoro'_

 **(*I assume it was hot nearly every day when Sanji and Zeff were stuck on the rock (Luffy knows his nakamas' pasts) )**


	18. 32 Days of Sanji, prompt 3: Spices

_**7/9 – 7/12 → Spices**_ 6 times Sanji used spices to help his nakama

* * *

 _Fenugreek_ **1** _:_

Sanji couldn't believe how quickly he and his crew had gone through the food stores. But then again, they had more than one party during the month alone, not accounting for normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner servings. He felt guilty, especially since the next island was two weeks away, but he had already announced to the rest of the Straw Hats that they would have to have halved portions – including his beautiful ladies and that rubber moron – to compensate for the loss. Nami had immediately punched Luffy for wanting so many parties celebrating nothing but simply being together. But Sanji had a plan to get them all through it – he'd given Chopper a spice that Zeff and he had to use to keep from devouring everything in sight when they first got off that accursed rock: Fenugreek. He'd asked the young doctor to make them into supplements, enough for everyone (except Brook and Franky, both who could either run on no food if they so choose or run on cola, of which there was plenty) to be able to consume one every other day in the morning. That should save the others from being too hungry in the later hours. He refused to stand by while his nakama went around with complaining stomachs.

* * *

 _Cinnamon_ **2** _:_

The last fight against the marines had been drawn out and exhausting. Zoro, Brook, and the lovely Robin-chwan were stuck in the infirmary, in various casts and other forms of bone-mending medical predicaments. The others, Sanji included, had been lucky enough to only received small nicks from bullets and blades or various bruises. So in the morning after, as Franky was working away on only cola bottles, patching up the Sunny while the rest of the crew (except those in the infirmary) were eating breakfast, Sanji fixed up a beneficial breakfast for the extremely injured. Oatmeal with a teaspoon of cinnamon for all three, with apple slices on the side, and a cup of coffee (with more cinnamon, mostly for flavour) for Robin. Then he took the offerings to the bedridden. Robin and Brook had been thankful while Zoro had grunted, though the lack of a scowl let Sanji know his efforts were (somewhat) appreciated.

* * *

 _Cumin_ **3** _:_

The island the Straw Hats had arrived at was one of many festival islands in the Grandline. That particular night happened to be one where the children of the village near the port put on a theatrical performance. Luffy and the others wanted to go and they wanted snacks with it. They'd been on the run from marines and had almost gotten a hole blasted into the Sunny before they managed to get away. They wanted to use the play to de-stress, and Sanji decided to help with it (since Nami-swan had requested snacks to bring with them so they didn't have to buy any). So Sanji use the bowl full of pumpkin seeds Brook had helpfully bought at the last island and mixed them with cumin before roasting them over the stove, separating them all into small bags, like miniature popcorn snacks, and passing them out to his nakama, sending them off to watch the play while offering to stay behind and watch the ship with Franky, who was hard at work with his own pumpkin seeds to eat.

* * *

 _Cloves_ **4** _:_

Sanji laid a hand on Chopper's forehead, frowning at the heat. Having the doctor of the Thousand Sunny fall sick was worrying itself; having each of his nakama, aside from Luffy and Robin, catching the same illness was quite stressing. And none of the ill could keep any food down. It tore Sanji, knowing that his cooking was making everything worse. He had an idea, however, and went around on his hourly check of everyone before retreating to the kitchen. As a child, when he was finally getting over not being able to eat so much, he sometimes still ate too much, and Zeff would use ground cloves in small portions of food to help him keep what he ate down. So he took out the applesauce he had recently made, setting some aside for Luffy and Robin-chwan, before separating the rest of it for the sick (aside from Brook, who would receive tea) and mixing in cloves. He then balanced the bowls and cup with skills he'd only mastered with his years upon the _Baratie_ before returning to his sick nakama, heart lightening each time they ate (or drank) and managed to keep down the food this time.

* * *

 _Ginger_ **5** :

Recently Zoro had been getting muscle pain from his vigorous training. He didn't complain aloud, of course, but Sanji could see in the way he moved his shoulders around that he wasn't very comfortable. Since the stupid moss brain wasn't going to admit to anything until his arms stopped working, Sanji decided to help him. It wasn't because he was worried – why would he be worried about the Marimo? He just sympathized with the other's distaste for being trapped in Chopper's infirmary. So he blended together a fruit smoothie with bitter blackberries to dampen down the sweetness of the strawberries (not that he cared that the other didn't like sweet things) before adding ginger, mixing well, and heading up to where the idiot was training again, as if he wasn't in some pain. But when has pain ever stopped him? Sanji left the shake on the floor of the observation room, knowing that despite their constant fights, Zoro wouldn't waste the food he was given.

He was pleased to see an empty smoothie glass left in the sink before dinner and even more pleased when, the next day, Zoro wasn't rolling his shoulders in an attempt to get comfortable.

* * *

 _Turmeric_ **6** _:_

Sanji knew that none of his nakama had an easy past. They all had nightmares once in a while and on the anniversaries of unfortunate events or deaths in their history, they would be unhappy, though they tried to hide it. Sanji knew they tried – he did, too, and Luffy always knew, being the one with less nightmares ***** and an eerily accurate intuition sometimes. So when one of his nakama was upset, he'd make rice and mix turmeric into that nakama's dish to help reduce their sorrow and frustration. He preferred his nakama's smiles and (aside from the ladies) general annoying tendencies than seeing them wander with a helplessly upset glint in their eyes.

* * *

 **(1: Fenugreek can be used to curb appetite.)**

 **(2: Cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar and strengthen bones; it provides manganese, a mineral that helps maintain bone density.)**

 **(3: Cumin's anti-inflammatory properties may improve memory and lower stress.)**

 **(4: Eugenol in ground cloves may soothe your stomach.)**

 **(5: Ginger contains gingerol, a natural anti-inflammatory that may reduce next-day muscle pain. Bonus – it may even ease period cramps.)**

 **(6: Turmeric has an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent called curcumin that can help reduce depression.)**

 **(*This is before the two-year timeskip.)**


	19. 32 Days of Sanji, Prompt 5 - Fire

_**7/17 – 7/20 → Fire**_

 **((A/N: I don't see that many Ace x Sanji art pieces or fanfics nowadays, so I decided to write one of my own for this prompt. Let's see how it goes, yeah? This is partly based off of the Ace/Sanji picture 'Flee with me'. It was a rush job and I offer my apologies. Enjoy anyway!))**

* * *

When he heard unfamiliar screams – tortured sounds being ripped from someone other than the slaves for once – Sanji woke with a start, listening to the whispers and murmurs of the other demons in cages similar to his own. He exchanged glances with the demon in the cage across from him – Ace, he said his name was so many months ago when he was first brought there – then peered down the hall as best as he could. The cages were small, no doubt made for large Earth dogs rather than humanoid figures, so he couldn't do much but hunch his back further and press against the bars, ignoring the soft hissing of his skin burning as it came in contact with the blessed metal.

"Hey, what are you doing?" one of the female demons, a blue haired she-demon named Vivi, whispered in horror.

"Oh my god," another female voice, one of a she-demon he had never seen but had heard before, hissed. "Can you guys smell that."

There was a thick, silent pause, then some of the younger or newer demons began panicking.

"That's smoke!" one shouted.

"They're burning this place down!" a male demon roared, voice followed by the slamming of a body against the side of the cage.

Sanji could smell the smoke as well. It was faint, meaning the fire wasn't upon the building the cages were in yet, but if it could be smelled, it was much too close for comfort. There was a series of rattles as demons tried to destroy their cages. Sanji stared at the bars in front of him, then he noticed a flaming glow. His eyes raised to Ace, whose arm tattoo was glowing a fiery orange. The freckled demon drew that arm back and slammed his fist into the front bars of his cage. Flames erupted from his hand and melted the bars as if they were made of butter.

He stepped out of the cage, stretching and popping bones in his back and neck as silence returned to the room. Then a cacophony of pleas from the other demons filled the room, echoing around. Ace grinned sharply, as if he hadn't just revealed himself as an Arch demon ***** who could've escaped at any time, and strolled down the long hall, melting bars and freeing demons that were along his wall of the room, then returning back up the hall, freeing the rest.

Sanji was the last to have his cage melted open, and the older demon offered him a hand to help him out. The blond glared at the hand, offended that he was being treated as if he couldn't get out himself. But he accepted the hand and was tugged out, knees giving out from the stress of holding weight after being bent for days on end. Ace supported him until he could get his feet under him.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Ace said, flames bursting in his hand and revealing a hat that he placed atop his own head with a relaxed grin. "My brothers caused quite the distraction, but it won't be long before hunters come after us."

Sanji wasn't quite sure how to respond to Ace, but the freckled male got a hold of his wrist and pulled him out of the building. The open field ahead of them, dotted with similar (now burning) buildings full of holding cells and torture chambers, was full of demons fighting against their previous captors. Ace led Sanji through the fray, flicking balls of fire at anyone who approached them. They got to a particularly crowded space and their connected hands were broken apart as a human ran into Sanji.

The man looked terrified, but didn't hesitate to raise the blade in his hand, which dripped with holy water sizzling and mixing with demon blood. Sanji kicked the man off of him and got to his feet. The man had gone flying quite a ways, but he was still in sight and got to his feet, preparing to charge again. As he came running, Sanji spun in place, feeling the friction on his leg turning to heat and as he stopped, his foot hissed upon touching the ground, an otherworldly glow emitting from it from below the knee and down. He charged the faltering human, words flowing through his lips as his target's time in the realm of the living shortened for every inch he came closer.

"Diable Jambe...Shot!"

The human went flying once more, and this time Sanji was sure he wouldn't be getting back up. A hand clamped onto his shoulder and he jolted, spinning and aiming a kick with his still-heated leg, but the same hand that was just dislodged from him grabbed his leg, skin not burning despite coming in contact with the lit section. Ace beamed at him, then turned his attention to the flaming leg.

"You'll have to show me how you do this," the freckled male stated. "I didn't think there were any normal demons left that could use fire ******."

He released Sanji's leg and the fire faded.

"Right. You'll need to come with me if you want to get out of here."

Sanji still wasn't sure what to think about Ace, but for an Arch demon to take interest in his survival... Well, there wasn't much he could do aside from letting the other take him by the hand and lead him towards the far part of the field, which was mainly empty.

"Ready to get out of here?"

They stopped for a moment and Ace looked him over, as if he had forgotten something, then snapped his fingers

"You'll need this to get through."

Ace took off his hat and put it on Sanji's head. Sanji was quite certain that he didn't need the hat, from the mischievous glint in Ace's eyes, but he didn't say anything against it as the ground beside them broke apart and revealed a burning tunnel.

"Ace!" a young voice echoed from deep within the tunnel, so far that Sanji couldn't see the owner of the voice. "Let's go!"

Ace just laughed and wrapped an arm around Sanji's shoulders.

"Here we go."

Then they were toppling over the edge, the hole sealing behind them as they fell.

* * *

 **(*Essentially, Devil Fruit users are Arch demons.)**

 **(**Natural fire demons are a super endangered type of demon.)**


	20. 32 Days of Sanji, Prompt 6: Blue

**(A/N: This is from one of the crew members' point of view, though I tried not to make it fully first person POV, so enjoy! Also, my apologies that it's so short, but it's difficult to compare Sanji's eyes color without using 'color' and 'blue' a lot, so...)**

* * *

The color of Sanji's eyes was hard to describe. Comparing them to the sky was being too modest; the space above could never reflect the storm of emotions the man's eyes could display, even on the days when wispy clouds dampened the light of the sun and covered the blue with an ashy haze. The shades of Sanji's blue shirts were too bright contrasts, though they did compliment the indescribable hues. Even the ocean's depths were unworthy of the praise of 'beautiful' compared to the chef's eyes.

 _Perhaps,_ the occasional stray thought chimes, _Sanji's eyes hold the All Blue._

* * *

 **(A/N: Essentially, I was thinking about how Sanji's eyes could be a silvery blue, like the All Blue with the scales of fish reflecting just beneath the surface. I hope everyone likes it.)**


	21. Usopp Week: Day 1 - Heroic Cowardly

**(A/N: Day 1 of Usopp Week, prompt: Heroic / Cowardly. I had a lot of fun coming up with this, the beginning especially. I hope you enjoy)**

* * *

How did the marines find us so quickly? _Usopp had to wonder as the monster trio struggled to combat the large swarm of soldiers and Pacifistas._

 _They were so close to Raftel, to the possible location of the One Piece, and they'd recently escaped another Navy group with a Coup de Burst. Was if possible that Navy HQ had sent groups to lay in wait for them? Yes, it definitely was possible and most likely exactly what was going on._

 _"Guys, run!" Sanji shouted._

 _He and Zoro, who had Luffy slung over his shoulder, were sprinting back towards them. Franky lifted Robin, who had an injured leg, and took the lead in the retreat, Brook, Nami, and Chopper following closely behind. Usopp didn't move, noticing the blood oozing out of a seep cut in Sanji's hand, the substance leaking out of Zoro's demonic eye where the scar had torn when he opened it as well._

 _As they passed him, the first mate eloquently ordering him to 'move his ass,' he turned his head to them in time to see a bullet hole in Luffy's bare shoulder – obviously seastone. While they had taken out a fair number of Navy soldiers and Pacifistas, there was still one Pacifista left, which looked larger than the others, that all the remaining marines had fallen back to cheer on. Usopp had a bad feeling about it, one that told him that he and his nakama wouldn't make it to the Thousand Sunny. Not without intervention. So he swallowed his fear and stepped forward to meet his foe, ignoring Chopper and Luffy's cries for him, followed soon by similar calls by the rest of the crew._

 _"Just go!" he shouted without looking back (because he knew that if he looked back, he's break). He added in a whisper as their voices got farther away, "Sogeking's got this."_

 _He planted his feet as the Pacifista approached, knees trembling even as he raised his Kabuto with steady hands. The Pacifista's mouth and palms began to glow as Usopp fired off shots to any possible weak points._

 _"USOPP!" he heard the echo of his crewmates' screams as the beams erupted from the Pacifista-_

* * *

Usopp woke with a strangled gasp, bathed in sweat despite the lack of intense heat in the boy's room. When he realized that he was indeed still alive, he let out a breathless laugh. He sure showed those marines. After breakfast and chores were done and over with, Usopp gathered the crew to tell a tale of the brave Captain Usopp's grand dream.

* * *

 **(A/N: So there's no confusion, the first part was a dream sequence, not a memory, and this is some point after the two year timeskip. Enjoy~)**


	22. Usopp Week: Day 2 - Plants

_**Day 2: Plants**_ _He uses them to attack. He grows them on the ship. Usopp has a great connection to plants and flowers._

* * *

"Hey, Usopp, can I talk to you?" Nami asked, approaching where the sniper was fishing in-between Luffy and Chopper.

"Sure, go ahead," he agreed, turning his head to watch her (and missing Luffy eating another handful of fish bait).

"I bought some flowers at the last island we were at..." Nami began, and Usopp nodded, easily recalling the island with the grand festival to celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of the Era of Pirates. "...and they won't grow anymore. They keep dying."

"Oh." Usopp wasn't quite sure what to say to that, and he still didn't know why she was informing him of this.

Nami made a frustrated noise and Usopp instinctively ducked his head in case of an incoming fist.

"Robin can't find any reason for them to have died like they have been, and your plants never die under your care, right?"

Usopp's chest swelled with pride, even if she might have just been stroking his ego to get him to offer his assistance.

"Don't worry, Nami," he assured. "The great Captain Usopp, King of the Plants, will get your flowers to grow once more!"

She smiled. "Thanks Usopp."

He nodded and returned his attention to his fishing activity, just in time to watch Luffy shove more bait into his mouth.

"Hey!"

* * *

Usopp crouched by the table in the girl's room, which held the single pot of flowers in the center. He'd expected more pots, but instead, there was a tangle of vines with drooping flowers on the ends. He prodded a flower and hummed thoughtfully at the hard texture rather than a limp, soft feeling he'd expected. They didn't look like they were dead, exactly. It kind of looked like they were surrounded by a cocoon. He picked up the pot and left the girl's room to find Nami. She said that they kept dying, but all of them were dead, so what could she possibly mean? As soon as he stepped outside, he had to raise a hand to block out the sun for a moment. When he could see properly again, he paused, surprised to see that the flowers were fully bloomed, no sign of the cocoons. He stepped back into the girl's room and was stunned to watch the flowers fall over, limp, with the cocoon-like material sliding out of the vines and consuming the petals.

"Nami!" he called as he ran back outside.

The navigator looked up from where she was accepting a drink from Sanji. She brightened up when she saw the flowers were alive.

"Hey, you got them to grow again."

She walked over, examining them as she took the pot with her free hand.

"What'd you do?"

"I always know my way with plants," he boasted. "Oh, and when the sun shining through the girl's room's door window stopped hitting the plants directly, they curl up to protect themselves from the cold. They're not dying, just sleeping."

Nami looked surprised, then smiled. "Thank you, Usopp. I'll go set this by Robin's flowers, then, so they get sunlight until nightfall."


	23. Usopp Week: Day 3

_**Day 3: Family & Relation(ships)**_ _Family, friends, nakama and more, a lot of people love Usopp and he loves them, too._

* * *

 _ **(A/N: Usopp and Sanji aren't my typical pair; even if I think some of the fanart for them is cute, I'm a ZoSan shipper all the way. But this prompt shoved ZoSan to the side for a little bite, so there will be hints of Usopp x Sanji in here. If you don't like it, don't read. Enjoy~)**_

* * *

Usopp loved his mom more than anything in his whole life. She had a garden out behind their house and she would tell him stories about fairies and nymphs that left his mind in a fantasy-filled daze for weeks afterwards. When she got sick, he tried his hand at telling her tales in return – they'd always made him feel better, so why couldn't it do the same for her? But while he always succeeded in making her smile – he loved his mom's smile – she just continued to get worse. So he turned to lying. He told her that pirates were coming; he mentioned a medicine that could cure any disease even as his eyes watered because surely if he wished hard enough, his lies would come to be the truth, right? But his mom died and his dad, who his mom encouraged him not to hate, never appeared with a miraculous cure for even his own son's broken heart.

* * *

Usopp loved Zoro, Nami, and Luffy. They were his new family – a different category than Kaya and his Usopp Pirates – even if two were unnecessarily scary at times and the other was insane. But none of them could have prepared him for their newest member. Sanji was the prettiest thing Usopp had ever laid eyes on, maybe even – dare he consider it – rivaling Kaya's beauty. They were on different levels of the beauty ratio, though. While Kaya was soft-spoken and sweet, Sanji was tough and polite, able to serve up kindness behind a cool mask while also putting someone in their place with his impressively long legs. Usopp honestly wasn't sure if he'd be able to pick between them if it came down to it.

* * *

Chopper was Usopp's favorite addition to the family. He was the little brother everyone wanted and radiated innocence; additionally, he was a damn good doctor for being the youngest member of the crew. Usopp was a little less sure about Robin's appearance, especially after such a tearful farewell to Vivi not long before. After all, Robin _had_ assisted the sandman responsible for Vivi's pain. But Robin fit into the group like a missing puzzle piece, especially after her return post Enies Lobby. The Going Merry had been something special to Usopp. Kaya had been the one to gift it to Luffy, Zoro, and Nami, who then requested (ordered) him to be a part of their crew. Sanji had joined them, not only to chase his dream, but to get Merry (and Nami ***** ) back. Usopp used what he could to patch her up again and again. Losing her was something akin to losing his mom again – the pain was similar. But knowing she's been happy eased the pain, if just a little.

Being able to rejoin the crew was his biggest joy, and with it came the Thousand Sunny – their newest ship – and Franky, their new nakama who'd understood Usopp's pain for Merry. Franky was friendly and much better at taking care of a ship than Usopp, yet he never hesitated to consult Usopp for some assistance. Usopp felt like he had one of Zoro's weights lifted off of his shoulders. Then came Brook, the most terrifying addition to the crew. He'd forced the crew to follow Luffy into a zombie-infested ship-island and fight for their shadows and lives (though Usopp did enjoy breaking his hammer over Perona's face; her expression was priceless!). But Brook tried to help in any way he could after joining until Luffy got him fully integrated into the group. His music was beautiful, Usopp had to admit, and when it was lively, the sniper sat back and reflected on how he liked when Zoro's scowled vanished to make way for a more content expression; when Robin allowed herself to be pulled into the fun; how Nami stopped worrying getting her temper sparked; how Luffy, Franky, and Chopper looked so ridiculous with chopsticks warping their faces into derpy elongates; how Sanji's smile, free from a cigarette or honeyed words for ladies, made his heart dance, and how Brook looked alive again while creating an atmosphere for his nakama to enjoy themselves in.

 _It will be like that again,_ Usopp promised himself as he trained and trained to be ready in two years' time. _I will definitely make it back to them; we'll be together as nakama again and go after our dreams, together!_

He was going to be a brave warrior, just like his mom wanted him to be.

* * *

 **(*** I'm not saying Nami's less important, but this part is focusing on Merry **)**

 **(A/N: Oops. Did I say there'd only be a _hint_ of Usopp x Sanji?)**


	24. Usopp Week: Day 4-7

_**Day 4: Fashion -**_ _He's a good looking boy. Make him look better. Or worse. He's got some questionable hats in that wardrobe..._

 _ **Day 5: Hobbies -**_ _He's multitalented, an artist, an inventor, a...story teller._

 _ **Day 6: Epithets -**_ _Sharpshooter. Liar. Great Captain Usopp. Sogeking. God. A man of many names._

 ** _Day 7: AU!sopp -_** _In another world, in another life, what else could he be?_

* * *

"Knock knock."

Usopp looked up from tending the flowers of his shop and saw Sanji standing in the doorway with Luffy and Chopper squeezing past him to run up to the baby Venus Flytrap Dionaea muscipula that were on display. As the cook entered the building, the rest of his friends came streaming in as well.

"Hey guys," Usopp greeted, peeling off his dirt covered gloves and swiping the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe of sweat before adjusting his flower-decorated sun hat so he properly shaded his face again. "What's up?"

"Robin gave us a call," Nami explained. "She said that you just finished your special project and that you were going to introduce your sproutlings to it. She also mentioned that it was something that we wouldn't want to miss out on."

Usopp whirled around to face his shop partner, who was watering small daffodils in the back. She met his accusing stare with a calm smile.

"My apologies, but you didn't look like you were going to invite them yourself, so I took the initiative."

The gardener sighed, but then smiled as he turned to face his other nakama.

"It was supposed to be a secret," he admitted with mock disappointment. " _But_ I suppose you can see its grand opening."

Usopp gathered a few pots in his arms and noticed Sanji, Zoro, and Nami doing the same.

"We'll bring these," Sanji said when he saw Usopp was watching. "Lead the way."

And Usopp did, bring the group to the very back of Sogeking's Plant Emporium, where a large pair of double doors awaited.

"Welcome to Boinland ***** ," he announced, pushing open the doors with great flourish.

As the they entered, all of them (except for Robin) gaped at the sight that they were greeted with. All the plants in the room were as big as each of them, if not larger. Luffy whooped and ran with Chopper down a path lined with Domilona Sleeping Fern, the leaves of those plants clamping down on the stems at the disturbance. Zoro, Nami, and Sanji put down the plants they'd brought in and began to wonder as well. Franky was more focused on the structure of the giant room than the plants, and Brook and Robin remained behind to help Usopp bring his sproutlings to their rightful place.

"I think they're impressed, 'Sogeking'," Robin commented, smiling pleasantly.

"Oh yes," Brook agreed as they reached giant Venus Flytraps that bowed down as if to greet the visitors. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that this place is amazing."

Usopp blushed and grinned as he carefully removed one of the baby Flytraps from it's small pot, digging out a spot near one of the giants of its kind and placed it in, patting soil gently around it.

"It was nothing."

* * *

 **(*Boin Archipelago was where Kuma sent Usopp for his two years of training, so I thought it was appropriate.)**


	25. ZoLu Week: Day 1 - Date

July 10th: Date

 **(A/N: This is late, actually, but welcome to Day 1 of ZoLu Week...which I didn't even know was happening until today. I'm going to be spamming the heck out of this One-Shot list because after this I've got to post Day 2 of this week and Day 2 and 3 of Corazon Week. So please forgive me if this and the next three are a little crappy! Enjoy~)**

* * *

Zoro hated babysitting. He would rather be training day in and day out for his next kendo tournament, but he needed money to keep his apartment, so he turned to the easiest thing he could think off. Watching children couldn't be too hard, right? _Wrong_. His first day was spent chasing around two brats of a retired Navy Officer, Bellemere, who enjoyed annoying the Hell out of him. Apparently she found his cursing out her kids amusing because he got three more jobs the next day watching a cowardly brat called Usopp, a little infant named Chopper, and a pre-teen named Robin, who scared the fuck out of him. So when his old school friend, Ace, called him up and convinced him to watch another kid a month into his babysitting gig, he had given up on dropping the job (his regulars paid too well to quit now).

That was how he ended up with a young boy named Luffy propped on his hip as he tried to follow instructions on his phone to the nearest restaurant because his cabinets were empty and the energetic boy – he was practically made out of rubber, running into walls and bouncing right back up – was a black hole according to Ace. Unfortunately, the nearest restaurant translated into Hell because as soon as the GPS led him to the Baratie, Zoro was prepared for teasing and scrutiny from his old classmate / rival, Sanji. Sanji did tease him upon his entrance, but apparently was well acquainted with Ace's baby brother and was even willing to pay for half of Luffy's lunch. Zoro agreed on a whim because Ace's words and the expression on Sanji's face when Zoro took a breath to refuse had his instincts flaring about how not accepting the help would end badly for him. Turns out that was a good idea. Sanji seemed to know how much Luffy normally ate and brought plates upon plates; Zoro had to hold his plate in his lap since the table was overflowing with food that was being consumed at a steady pace.

"Sho, Z'ro," Luffy mumbled through a mouthful of food. "Ish thish l'ke th't d'te Ashe 's goin' on?"

"A date?" Zoro repeated, absently eating his own food as Luffy finished half of the plates and Sanji came to take them away. "Sure, kid."  
Luffy gave him a blinding smile before returning to his food. Zoro smirked and huffed out a small laugh. (He would later regret his choice to indulge in Luffy's fantasy because Ace called him up, _pissed_ and ranting about how his brother claimed they had been out on a date.)

* * *

 **(A/N: I'm sorry it's so short, but I've got three more chapters to post after this, so I've just been trying to get them done and over with. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!)**


	26. ZoLu Week: Day 2 - Memories

July 11th: Memories

 **(A/N: Luffy is 29 here, so hopefully you can guess the others' ages.)**

* * *

Zoro and Luffy sat on Sunny's figurehead, listening to their nakama cheer and fish, and splash around in the newly discovered All Blue, Laboon singing along to Brook's jolly version of Bink's Brew. With Sanji's dream finally found, Robin was the final piece of the puzzle. Soon the Straw Hats were going to set off for the East Blue to revisit Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji's childhood homes before reentering the Grandline to search for the other Poneglyphs and go to Franky and Chopper's homes.

As the Captain and First Mate sat and drank to celebrate, they also discussed nostalgic memories ( _Luffy_ ) and where to search first ( _Zoro_ ).

"Shishishi, remember when my Gomu Gomu no Rocket rebounded off that one marine base safe and hit you in the face?"

The Pirate King cackled at the World's Greatest Swordsman's exasperated expression.

"It wasn't that funny," Zoro sighed. "Come on, Luffy, if we plan out course now, we don't have to do it later." He didn't add that Nami would kill them if they made her do it after assuring her they would get it done.

"Okay, okay."

Zoro suggested more paths until he noticed Luffy snickering not-so-discretely.

"What now?"

"R-remember that mystery cave we found on Vivi's island? The one with the big mystery stone? And I had to launch you, me, and Chopper out of there and you guys had the funniest faces while you were laying in the sand!"

Zoro was confused for a moment, then realization came over him.

"Luffy, that's it! We'll start in Alabasta!"

Luffy paused and tilted his head. "Huh?"

"We didn't know it at the time, but we'd found a Poneflyph before meeting Robin! We've just got to find it again!"

Luffy smiled widely. "Yeah! And we can visit Vivi and get another royal feast!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yosh! Let's go tell Robin!"

Luffy launched himself from the figurehead to the main deck with Zoro following behind more calmly.


	27. ZoLu Week: Day 3 - Prank

**July 12th** : Prank

* * *

Zoro yawned as he approached Ace's house. He had gotten a frantic call from the freckled idiot that he had yet another emergency outing and could Zoro please go check on Luffy? He'd had half the mind to remind Ace that Luffy was in fact sixteen now and could take care of himself, but he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep with the annoyingly piercing ringtone he received for phone calls thanks to Sanji – he never got around to changing it. So he'd agreed despite the ungodly hour he'd been called and now he was dragging his feet up to the front door of his former classmate, knocking before letting himself in, making a mental reminder to have Luffy lock the door when he left because who wanted to be robbed while playing video games? Not that the crazy idiot couldn't take care of himself.

"Luffy, I'm he-"  
"Usopp Whipped Cream Star!"

He was assaulted in the face with a tin foil ball that exploded in a flash of white. He stood in the doorway, not moving an inch as muffled giggles reached his ears. Then he licked his lips (out of anger, definitely not to taste the sweetness that was whipped cream) and took a deep breath.

" _YOU IDIOTS ARE SO DEAD!_ " he hollered, opening his eyes to find Ace, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper practically rolling on the ground laughing.

At least they were until they got their bearings and ran up the stairs as Zoro barreled after them.


	28. ZoLu Week: Day 4 - Free Day

July 13th : Free Space

 **(A/N: This is related to the Modern Devil Fruits chapter, so Zoro is younger than Luffy just like Law is.)**

* * *

Luffy stretched out on the roof that he and Zoro were bunking down on. He watched the green haired male clean his blades with so much care that it was a wonder that he used them in battle at all. He remembered when they first met, and it made him smile every time – Zoro had been so desperate to kill him. Their second meeting had gone much better...

* * *

 _Luffy finished up the last of his meat and belched as he got to his feet, tossing belis onto the table and leaving the restaurant. He always knew exactly how much he owed because he ate the same amount of every night and Sanji got sick of making out the same check. He walked down the street, hands stuffed in his pocket, and ducked to the side when a blade came swinging down from behind him. He twisted around, leg stretching and taking out the legs of a teenager with green hair that looked suspiciously like moss._

 _The teen grunted upon hitting the ground, but rolled to his feet almost immediately._

 _"Y'know... That's not what an apology sounds like."_

 _"Bite me," Zoro snarled._

 _"Kinky," Luffy replied with a wink, more out of habit learned from his brother than genuine interest._

 _Zoro looked vaguely disturbed, then glared again, adjusting his grip on his swords._

 _"Can you, like, not be a moron for two seconds? I'm trying to take your life, you know!"_

 _Luffy laughed slightly. "I've tried. It's not worth it."_

 _Zoro's expression took on a confused tint and Luffy wondered, not for the first time, where the kid came from, anyway. He reminded him a lot of Law._

 _"You should smile more."_

 _"You should shut the fuck up more."_

 _Oh, and there was the accompanying glare. Luffy laughed. Zoro really_ was _a lot like Law._

 _"Why are you laughing? Stop laughing at me!"_

* * *

"Oi, Zoro," Luffy called, the teen turning to look at him with annoyance plastered on his face. "Why don't you teach me how to use San... Santo... Three Sword Style?"

"I've tried teaching people before, it doesn't work. It's a gift, not a skill." Zoro seemed rather proud of himself after that statement.

"Come on, it can't be that hard. And how do you know I don't have the gift? I've never held a sword in my life."

Zoro held his swords closer to himself, but he seemed to actually be considering it. "When we get to this 'safe place' you're bringing me to. And you have to get your own swords."

Luffy didn't bother stifling the large grin that spread from cheek to cheek (thanks to his Devil Fruit ability).

Zoro grimaced and already looked to be regretting it. "Try not to look so excited, it's embarrassing."


	29. ZoLu Week: Day 5 - Loyalty

July 14th: Loyalty

 **(A/N: This is an AU where Luffy is a princess and Zoro is her main guard, tasked with following Luffy even to her death. Yes, Luffy is a girl here, as well as Sanji and Franky (Francine); Robin is a guy. Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper are still male and Nami is still a girl. I didn't change any of their names, though, except Franky's, so that's why this is here.)**

* * *

"Luffy."

The seven year old stopped chasing after her older "brothers" at the call of her grandfather, who had left the castle months earlier in search of a new head guard who could handle the rambunctious trio.

"Come here and meet your new guard."

Luffy heard Ace and Sabo snickering behind her as she ran up to stand in front of Garp. Standing next to the old man, back straight and expression grim, was a boy who didn't look any older than ten.

"This is Zoro," Garp introduced. "He comes from a far off town in the East and offered to travel here, in the Grandline, to be your guard."

"Eh?" Luffy stuck her pinkie in her nose. "Not for Sabo or Ace?"

"No." Garp's eyes flicked to them before returning to Luffy. "Ace and Sabo will receive their own guards. None of the guards I've brought for you idiots have stuck around for more than three weeks." More snickering from the older two. "And since you are the true heir of this kingdom, you get your guard first."

"Oh, okay." Luffy didn't particularly care, turning her attention to the green haired boy. His skin was tan and his eyes were amber and focused ahead, not looking at anyone. Luffy stepped into his view and the eyes shifted to her face. She grinned and held out her hand (the one she'd previously been using to chase after her boogers). "Hi, I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Do you want to play?"

Zoro stared at her hand, not taking it, then turned his attention to Garp, who nudged him "lightly," making him stumble.

"Well? Go on."

Zoro looked at Luffy again, eyes drifting to Ace and Sabo, who had their arms crossed impatiently, then nodded once. Luffy beamed and took Zoro's hand (with her clean one).

"Let's go!"

* * *

"Get back here, you thieving bastards!" twin voices, one a child's while the other's was a grown man's, roared.

The double doors to the royal kitchen slammed open to reveal a fourteen year old Zoro carrying a twelve year old Luffy whose stomach and cheeks were bulging as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Behind them came running a man with a braided mustache and peg leg and, right beside him, a scrawny teenager with blond hair that concealed "his" ***** left eye and a visible eyebrow with a curl on the outer end. Both were carrying carving knives held up to further threaten the fleeing brats, but stopped in the doorway.

Zoro didn't stop to look back as Luffy took one hand off of her mouth and waved at Sanji, who cursed colorfully, but didn't look as angry about their departure as "his" mentor, Zeff, did.

"You're a real piece of work," Zoro grumbled as they entered the courtyard, dropping his charge and friend onto the grass.

Luffy swallowed all the food in her mouth in one gulp and sighed contently. "Shishishi, that was a close one~"

" _You only got out because I was there, you moron!_ " Zoro shouted, punching Luffy on the head.

Once he learned that he didn't have to be formal or overly kind to Luffy, Zoro had lightened up considerably and even took on a brotherly role in his relationship with the younger child. He had to, since Sabo and Ace were sent off to learn more about the positions that they would have to assume to support Luffy in his rule. Sabo left to the Revolutionary Army in the South, with his guard Koala, and Ace was sent to the kingdom of Edward Newgate in the West with his guard Douma. However, in their absence, alongside Zoro, were more children who were brought in to learn to work with Luffy and be her friends.

Sanji was an apprentice chef that worked in the kingdom of Monkey D. Dragon longer than Zoro had, being a child old man Zeff had taken in from the streets. Nami had traveled with her mother Bellemere and sister Nojiko, mapping out the areas around enemy fortresses, until their mother had been killed and they'd been recovered by Genzo, an older guard of the castle. Usopp was the son of a famous archer-cum-pirate who had sent a letter to Garp, pleading for his son to be able to take shelter in the castle after the death of his mother. Chopper was a young child of a former doctor who died and he was taken under the wing of the newest doctor, a witch who was over a hundred years old. Cutty Flam, better known as Francine, was a carpenter and blacksmith who didn't reveal where she was from, nor was she interrogated for such information after she declared her loyalty to the future king. Nico Robin was the last of his kind, a type of elf that had long been thought extinct. He also had been in the castle longer than Zoro and had even babysat for Luffy. He mostly resided in the library and was full of historical knowledge. Then there came Brook, who was a reanimated skeleton who had been cursed to be the musician of the castle forever.

Together, under Luffy's lead and Straw Hat (a gift from a pirate who Luffy used to sneak out to see at the local bar in the closest town), they became known as the Straw Hat group, a group of troublemakers who would one day turn the world upside-down like the most famous king in the world, Gol D. Roger, had.

"Ne, Zoro."

Luffy tugged on his hand, stomach no longer bulging despite how much food she'd consumed mere minutes ago.

"Let's go find Usopp and Chopper and play!"

Zoro rolled his eyes and nodded. "Right."

Together, they reentered the hall, running and ducking around servants to get to their set goals.

* * *

 **Seven years later...**

The battlefield was pretty bloody. Soldiers screamed in pain as they were struck down by bullets, arrows, cannonballs, and blades.

"I won't deny it; this is looking pretty bad," Robin said over the Den Den Mushi, though the grin on the Snail's face revealed the fact that he wasn't too worried. "Hey, Francine, how are you doing on cola?"

"Just fine," the blacksmith grunted. "Don't you have anything better to do than bother me while I'm shooting down people?"

"Hey, knock it off, you guys," Nami ordered. "Luffy, what should we do?"

Luffy had her back pressed against a large rock, one of many scattered in the forest. She could see Nami hiding behind a nearby one with Usopp cowering beside her, and on her other side were Sanji and Chopper.

"Usopp, check how many of the enemies are left. Robin, how many of our allies remain?"

Luffy's intuition told her that her group was the only ones left, and Robin confirmed it not two minutes later. Usopp said there was still a large group of about one hundred and fifty men advancing behind the fifty or so their allies hadn't taken down.

"Brook, where's Zoro?" Luffy asked.

"I don't know, Luffy-chan," the skeleton admitted, darting in and out of the group of trees, scattering and confusing the fifty lead men to buy his friends time.

"Of course that moss head would choose now of all times to take a nap," Sanji growled in irritation, whipping out from behind her rock to kick a man in the throat when he gets too close, the snap of that man's neck echoing around the trees threateningly even as she ducks back into hiding with Chopper.

"Luffy, they're getting closer," Chopper whimpered.

Luffy took a deep breath. Her nakama were scared – well, perhaps not Robin, but he was a special case. The fear was effecting her, reminding her of her own fear and pain when she lost Sabo without ever being able to say goodbye or when Ace had been killed in front of her two years beforehand, in a grand-scale war.

"Guys, we're gonna charge them!" Luffy decided.

Silence echoed over the Snail connections, until a chorus of, "Aye!" assured Luffy once more that her nakama were there to stay. As one, they launched themselves out of hiding and began to attack together. Nami used the weather magic she learned from Robin to summon bolts of lightening that fried enemies to a crisp. Chopper morphed into a reindeer-man with bulging muscles and began slamming enemies to the ground with his fists. Usopp stayed in the back of the group, firing off small orbs of exploding powder while Francine pummeled enemies with her self-made weapons. Robin used his unique magic to sprout hands from the ground and shoulders of enemies, breaking bones as easily as splitting bread. Brook continued to confuse enemies with an out-of-tune song on his violin, cutting down enemies that approached with the blade that made the music sing. Sanji twirled across the ground, as if in a dance, and flipped onto her hands to use her legs to take down foes. Luffy followed their lead, happily working amongst her nakama and teaming up with each one in different instances, using her newfound magic – to make her body turn into a rubber-like substance – to get a farther range.

An enemy managed to wipe her legs out from under her and raised a blade to end her life, but they were suddenly without a head or arms as a grass-haired man flicked blood off of his three blades.

"Zoro!" Luffy cheered with Chopper and Usopp, the others smiling or smirking at the swordsman's appearance.

Luffy bounced back onto her feet as the group faced the last of the enemies.

"Ne, Zoro," Luffy said. "When we're done here, I think we should go out to sea."

Her hand drifted to the straw hat still sitting upon her head.

"It'll be the adventure of a life-time, right?"

The Straw Hats had discussed this many times, and all were on board except Zoro, who never had anything to say. His amber eyes slid over to meet Luffy's, and he grinned.

"Aye aye, Captain."

* * *

 **(*Sanji remains flat-chested until later in her teen years, so Zoro and Luffy were never sure if Sanji was a 'he' or a 'she', or a s/he (aka, okama).)**


	30. Corazon Week: Day 1 - Smoking

_Day 1: Smoking_

* * *

Law stepped off the bus, uncomfortably warm in the spring weather of Dressrosa City, but entirely unwilling to shed the black and yellow sweater he'd been accompanied with in the cold recesses of Flevance in the country of North Blue. He kept his nodachi propped against his shoulder, bag strap wrapped around the hilt, and started walking down the street. His phone rang and he answered it with an eye roll when he read the name flashing on his screen.

 _Doflamingo._

"What?" he asked shortly.

 _"Why Lawsie, what a rude way to greet your uncle,"_ the man on the other end whined.

 _Childish as always,_ Law thought.

"What do you want?" he prompted, annoyed.

There was a soft scoff. _"When are you arriving?"_

"I'm already here," he sighed. "I'm about three houses away or so from Cora's place."

 _"Ah."_ There was a pause. _"Well, I won't be able to come and see you or Roci until tomorrow."_

"What a pity," Law said, voice full of biting sarcasm.

 _"I know!"_ Doflamingo acted as if Law wasn't being rude to him. _"Fufufu, anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Roci I said 'hi'!"_

Then the other man hung up and Law put his phone in his pocket, mumbling darkly about pink feathers and where he'd like to stuff them. He reached the house he'd been aiming for and didn't bother to knock as he entered. The first thing to greet Law was the heavy scent of smoke. He set his nodachi and bag by the door, toeing off his shoes before venturing further into the house. His first destination was the kitchen; he wasn't surprised to find his father figure desperately trying to put out a fire on the stove while simultaneously trying to slip out of his black feathered jacket, which had also been lit up in flames, most likely from the cigarette dangling from his lips as he cursed.

"Cora-san?" Law called, and the tall man froze in the motions, though the fire continued to blaze.

"Law?"

The man turned to face him, face bathed in a sheen of sweat, probably from being surrounded by fire. Law gave an exasperated sigh, hurrying forward to peel off the jacket and throw it on the ground, stomping out the flames in a familiar motion from his very childhood. Then he turned off the stove and used a dish towel to pat it out. When he was finished, he turned to scold his companion and was pulled into a tight hug. He couldn't stop his nose from scrunching up slightly from the cigarette smoke, but at the same time it was a familiar comfort. He returned the hug, peering up at the bright grin he was receiving.

"I'm just home for spring break."

"After being away forever for college," Corazon complained, but then he was back to smiling. "We'll have so much fun, won't we? Doffy and I planned a couple outings and..."

He pulled away as he went on about what they could do, going to the stove and taking the pan, scraping the burnt remains into the garbage as Law sat at the kitchen table, watching Corazon's cigarette smoke curl around his head like a halo.


	31. Corazon Week: Day 2 - Clown Make Up

_Day 2: Clown / Make Up_

 **(A/N: Law is about ten, and he hasn't been under Corazon's care for more than a year at this point.)**

* * *

Law leaned against the door of his step-father's room, watching him meticulously add make up upon his face. In Law's opinion, the face paint made him look like a clown.

"Good morning, Law~" the taller man chirped, glancing at the speckled boy through the mirror before adding the last of his eye make up, having already finished with his lips.

"Morning, Cora-san."

Law ventured into the room, stepping around the random article of clothing laid in the middle of the rug. He stopped next to Corazon, who was double checking that he hadn't missed any places.

"Are you going to come with me to Sengoku's house?"

Law didn't really know his step-father's step-father all the well, but he knew that Corazon wanted them to spend more time together.

"Sure... Can I try on some of that?"

He pointed to the make up sitting on the desk and Corazon look surprised, then smiled.

"Sure."

He stood and had Law sit in his seat before opening the case to the eye make up and beginning to apply it to Law, using the mirror as if he was still putting the stuff on his own face.

Sengoku was surprised to open his door to two versions of Rocinante, but with the smaller one smiling instead of brooding as usual, he didn't comment on it, welcoming them both in instead and preparing himself for a day entertaining his newest grandson by pretending not to know which Roci was the real one.


	32. Corazon Week: Day 3 - Klutz Clumsy

_Day 3: Klutz / Clumsy_

 **(A/N: This is not related to Day 1's universe, just an early heads up.)**

Law glared out the cafe door at the buckets of water splattering the ground and growing large puddles. Nami _had_ warned him that it would become stormy, but he'd dared not to listen and didn't bring so much as a jacket, much less an umbrella. He didn't want to leave at all, but he had to feed Bepo.

At the thought of his pet, he left the building and was soaked within seconds. He shuddered, glowering darkly as thunder mocked him from above, and began walking. It wasn't love before he was shivering and he was just beginning to calculate how much longer it was to home compared to how long it'd take for hypothermia to hit when...

"Hey, wait up!"

The voice was one Law knew, so he turned, arms crossed tightly to stifle some of the trembling his body was forced to endure. Donquixote Rocinante, or 'Corazon' as he was better known in their college, was approaching him, looking dry and warm with his umbrella and black feathered jacket. Law tried not to be jealous. Upon catching up, Corazon stood close enough to cover Law with the umbrella, too.

"Hello, Law," the tall man greeted with a smile. "You looked like you could use some company and cover."

Law didn't mind Corazon; they were friends, but weren't all that close, though that could be Doflamingo's fault. Corazon's older brother was a creepy, overprotective jerk.

"Sure, if you're offering, Cora **-** san *****."

They started walking in a silence that wasn't uncomfortable. Then suddenly Law was under the rain again and Corazon was flat on his back. Law had heard of his friend's unnatural clumsiness, but he'd never witnessed it. The shocked expression on Corazon's face had Law chuckling, amused despite being soaked even further. Corazon didn't look unhappy about being laughed at, he just grinned. Law offered a hand but as he moved to pull Corazon to his feet, he slipped as well and they both sat on the ground quietly before Corazon began laughing, triggering another bout of soft laughter from Law as the storm continued on around them.

 **(*They're close enough for this honorific, aka I always have Law call Corazon 'Cora-san' and this is no exception.)**


	33. Corazon Week: Day 4 - Badass

_Day 4: Badass_

* * *

Rocinante leaned against what remained of the wall of a house he was taking cover in, lighting up a cigarette. He didn't notice the flames eating away at the shoulder of his already burnt gray uniform, but his partner did, patting out the fire absently, as if it were an every day pastime...which it was.

"Same old, same old, right?" Bellemere asked, chuckling, leaning over so Roci could light her cigarette, too.

"Yep," he said through a sigh of smoke, tapping the barrel of his pistol against his knee. "Where are Smoker and Hina?"

"Smoker's trying to patch Drake up. I have to admit, it doesn't look like he'll make it." She grimaced at her own words. "Hina is going around to try and get them from behind. You know, her Devil Fruit ability works better when she's not being shot at or around, but Smoker sent Tashigi to back her up."

Rocinante raised a brow. Tashigi was just a rookie, and she was Smoker's responsibility. Add on top of that the fact that Hina seemed to hate her...

"Looks like we'll have to wrap this fight up sooner than I'd anticipated," he decided.

"Yep," she agreed. "Besides, I got a couple girls I'd like to get home and see again."

Roci smiled at the thought of Nami and Nojiko. They were sweet girls, and he often watched them when Bellemere was sent out on a mission that he wasn't a part of.

"Let's get to it, then."

* * *

Rocinante surveyed the destroyed town while Hina used her Devil Fruit ability on the last of the (living) enemies and Smoker settled Drake on his back. There were so many dead bodies... Every civilian in the town had been killed, from what Roci could see.

"Why was Flevance attacked again?" he asked aloud to no specific person behind him.

"Apparently the town had contracted a disease from generations of living around the amber lead, sir," Tashigi spoke up. "Though the government claimed that it was harmless, Flevance's neighboring towns feared contagion and saw this as the perfect opportunity to wipe them out."

Rocinante felt sick from hearing that information. It made him want to kick the teeth out of all the men they'd taken prisoner. In fact, he turned to do just that to the closest one when he heard something.

"I'll be back."

He turned and ran, ignoring the calls from his fellow Marines as his long legs carried him quickly over the rubble and piles of ash. The noise turned out to be a few men who hadn't engaged in battle with the Marines. They were kicking and taunting something and whether it be a stray animal or a survivor, Roci saw red and took them out with bullets to their knees. Stepping on their backs to get the bundle of clothe on the ground, he was surprised when it moved and a young face peered up at him. Tears streamed down the young boys face despite the glower on his face, broken sobs escaping in soft wheezes. He was somewhat pale, white patches covering his light tan skin. There was so much hatred in the boy's eyes...

"Hey, what did you run off for?" Bellemere demanded when he returned.

She moved to punch him on the arm like she always did when he did something she deemed stupid, but she paused when she saw dark, angry eyes escaping from his jacket.

"What...?"

"I took a page from your book," Roci announced proudly. "This is Law."

"But...you hate kids..." she said, gaping at him. "Except for mine," she added as an afterthought.

He beamed. "I can't hate my own kid."

'Law' glared up at Rocinante. "I'm not your kid, you big, stupid idiot!"

Bellemere laughed at the crestfallen look on Roci's face as he began to whine and plead for Law to stop hating him.

* * *

 **(A/N: I know it's late. My apologies.)**


	34. Corazon Week: Day 5 - Snow

_Day 5: Snow_

 **(A/N: Essentially, this is an AU where Corazon survived, found Law, and they left together. Corazon is the First Mate of the Heart Pirates and Law still has his vitiligo, that's about all that's changed.)**

* * *

Corazon hated snow island. It made the scars _Doffy_ had left behind with his damn bullets. He always knew ahead of time when they were approaching one, mostly because he spent most of his time around Law and Law was always efficiently informed about incoming islands from the polar bear he'd found when he was still a child, whom he named Bepo. So that day, when the announcement came that a snow island was less than two days away, he couldn't help but wear a scowl the rest of the day, not that most of the other Heart Pirates could tell with his sunglasses and lip make up.

Law was always able to tell, somehow.

"Cora-san," he called during the night, mere hours before they would arrive at the winter island.

Corazon stopped walking down the cramped hall of the sub, rubbing a newly forming bump in his head from forgetting his height compared to the height of the hall. He turned to face his step son, who stepped closer.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Law had never been able to fully get rid of the skin pigmentation situation, so in the dim light of the sub at night, he looked ill, much like he had been as a child, when he was slowly dying.

"Nothing."

Law gave him a skeptical look, but dropped it. He was never one to pry, that's never changed.

"Okay. Goodnight, then, Cora-san."

The next day, Cora-san was woken at an ungodly (but familiar from his Marine years) hour by knocking on the door. He got up, scratching his bare chest and yawning. He paused when he was passing the full length mirror along his wall, grimacing at the smeared make up on his face. He must've forgotten to wipe it off before he went to bed. He went to answer the door anyway and found Law, clad in his day clothes already and the bags under his eyes darker than they had been the night before.

"Good morning, Cora-san. Come with me."

Raising his brows at the ominous order, he did as he was told, wiping his mouth off absently with his bare arm. He followed Law right out of the sub, shivering harshly at the cold wind and freezing metal beneath his feet. Law didn't seem cold, but then again, he'd lived in the North Blue as a child, so...

"Is it even morning?" Corazon asked, glaring at the white speckles that whipped around the darkness.

"No," Law replied flatly. "Just watch, Cora-san."

Corazon rolled his eyes, but watched the accursed snow...until he noticed a blue tint taking them over.

"What the f-"

"Look, in the water."

They both walked to the short rail. As snow touched the ocean, the resulting ripples glowed blue, much like Law's Rooms.

"I noticed it while I was going over the newest crew members' medical files," Law explained. "I know you don't like snow, Cora-san, so I...thought this might help."

Corazon had to admit...it did, quite a bit. Seeing the snow associated with something aside from cold and pain was nice. He wrapped an arm around Law, bringing him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Law."

Law just wrapped his arms back around him in response.


	35. Corazon Week: Day 6 - Black Feathers

_Day 6: Black Feathers (14th)_

* * *

"So, today's the day, huh?"

Law watched smoke be blown out from between painted lips.

"Yes," he replied, turning his attention to the town below the hill he and his guardian sat upon. "I will officially be made the doctor of the town this afternoon."

Corazon chuckled softly, patting Law's back.

"I told you blending in with normal humans was easy. Just a little manipulation."

Law tried for a smile, but it fell flat. If Corazon noticed, he didn't acknowledge it as he stretched his arms above his head. A genuine smile came to his face beneath the red make up as he turned his face up towards the sky, sunlight highlighting the unnatural paleness of the taller figure.

"Today is the perfect day for it, is it not?"

To any who heard their discussion, they would assume that the older man was talking about Law's promotion, but the tan male knew better.

"Yes," he replied anyway, even as his lips tugged downwards.

Corazon took notice of it that time – or rather, acknowledged it that time – and wrapped an arm around his charge's shoulders, leaning against him. Law hardly noticed the extra weight, only taking note of the black feathers of the other's jacket brushed against his face, yet he could barely feel them.

"Oh Law, I'm going to miss you," Corazon admitted. "Promise you'll be on the look out for me?"

Law's gaze snapped upwards, an indignant expression on his face. "Of course I will!"

Corazon was taken back by the conviction in the immortal's voice, then his eyes softened. It couldn't be easy for this man to finally get close to someone, only to lose them in such a short time – well, if two hundred years could be short, which for someone who lived forever, it likely was. But Corazon couldn't put off his death any longer; his magic was running out, along with his time.

"I know you will."

He stood then, Law scrambling to his feet in such an uncoordinated manner that Corazon had to stop and laugh. He spread his arms and looked up at the sky again before returning his attention to Law, who stood stiffly, hands curled into shaking fists.

"Hey, Law." He beamed as brightly as he could, watching Law's eyes widen. "I love you."

Law felt his eyes finally, finally sting with incoming tears as he choked out, "Yeah, me too, Cora-san."

And then he watched his most important person close his eyes, body starting to glow until it was so bright that Law almost had to look away, but then the light turned into a flock of ravens that brushed past Law in a group, leaving dozens of black feathers, like those on Corazon's coat, floating to the ground. Law took a single step in the direction the bird's had flown as the feathers settled, then stilled, hand raising to catch the last feather from the sky.


	36. Corazon Week: Day 7 - Kindness

_Day 7: Kindness_

 _ **(Happy Birthday, Cora-san!)**_

* * *

Corazon found the snow irritating as it whipped around him, forewarning a storm of massive proportions. It wasn't as if the snow could even touch him any longer – being dead tended to make that impossible – but it still bothered the part of his mentality that made the connection between the white particles and the cold he had felt overtaking his body as he succumbed to the bullets his older brother had felt were best put to rest within him. He felt a tugging at the edge of his mind, like a rope trying to pull him along a different path, one he was supposed to take. But he couldn't go, not quite yet. Because after witnessing his body being recovered and Law nowhere to be seen, it became his mission to find the brat and make sure he was still alive, that Corazon's sacrifice wasn't in vain.

 _So I'm playing the babysitter again,_ he thought with an exaggerated sigh, but he found that the thought didn't have quite the heat it did when he genuinely hated children of all shapes and sizes. _Damn it, Law, where are you?_

With every step Corazon took, the tugging became harder to ignore, but he was determined to carry on until he could see that familiar face. That familiar face with faded tan skin and white splotches, the eyes that held anger and sorrow and a spark of life that refused to go out, and the black on white hat that witnessed every bloody and horrible thing that its owner had seen.

 _"Mmmm..."_

Corazon stopped abruptly, head turning from one side to the other. What in the world was that? It definitely was not Law; it wasn't even human. The sound came again and Corazon reluctantly went off of his set path to find the source, sating curiosity just barely rising on his 'To-Do' list above finding Law. The source of the sound happened to be a bundle of white barely visible amongst the snow. He crouched and reached out, hand passing through the trembling back. The bundle jolted and unfurled to reveal black eyes and a black nose. It was a...polar bear? It gazed directly at him and Corazon recalled reading at some point, as a child, about animals being able to sense the presence of spirits. Interest lost, Corazon stood and returned to his original path, ignoring the polar bear cub following on his transparent heels.

It took another two hours before Corazon finally found Law. The rope-like tug was almost painful now, and he wouldn't have noticed the small form curled against a tree if the bear hadn't huffed and leaped through the snow towards it. He followed it just as quickly.

 _"Law!"_ he breathed, relief flowing through his ghostly body as he dropped to his knees.

Law didn't hear him, of course, but he stirred when the bear's nose touched his cheek. He raised his head and Corazon's no-longer-existing heart broke at the frozen trail of tears on his face. He looked exhausted and hurt and as if he was going to give up on life again. The bear made a small noise and licked Law's face, brushing off the powdered tears.

"...you must be alone like me, huh?" he whispered.

The bear settled down next to Law and looked pointedly at Corazon with a human-like focus before nuzzling again Law, who wrapped an arm around it and buried his face in its fur.

"It's okay...Bepo. We won't be alone anymore." He squeezed the bear closer. "We'll be nakama, and we'll raise money to buy a ship and get even more nakama...and we'll set out to be pirates."

Corazon bowed his head slightly, then reached out and let his hand hover just above Law's hat.

 _"Goodbye, Law."_


	37. Modern AU - Luffy and Coby

Summer was coming to an end, and with it, Luffy's freedom for the rest of the year. He only had a couple more years of school left, and that was perfectly fine with him, but school just hadn't been fun since Ace left, and even less so when Sanji and Zoro graduated. So Luffy made the most of it, hanging out with his nakama when he could and exploring on his own when he couldn't find someone to waste time with. In fact, that was what he was currently planning to do. He and Usopp had pranked his caretaker, Dadan, and now he was grounded. Not that being grounded had ever stopped him from going out. He just had to find less...conventional ways of getting out of the house. He couldn't go through the front or back doors; too obvious, and Dadan likely set up the guards at those points. Though he probably could beat them up and get out, he didn't want to have them pissed at him and lock up the meat again. His window was boarded up, since he used that last time he escaped, but he had one more way to get out without alerting the houseful of former criminals – Sabo's entrance.

When he and Ace were children, they had another "brother," Sabo. Sabo used to live in the woods, but when the police intruded upon his territory, he tracked down Dadan's house and loosened the roof panels and used that to get in and out without being caught. Ace and Luffy used to use it as well, especially after Sabo was returned to his family, until Sabo died in a car explosion when he tried to run away from his family again. It was Luffy's only chance, though, to experience some more freedom before the school year began.

It wasn't easy, squeezing through the space that previously provided a route for children, but Luffy managed with a few stretches, tugs, and a roll across the room. Then he used a nearby tree to climb down before he bolted through the trees. Dadan's house laid in a clearing within a spacious forest, and it wasn't too far from East Blue Town or Grandline City, depending on which way you headed. Since all his friends from East Blue were busy, he decided to go to the city and see if he could find a few of his friends there, like Robin, who was a librarian there, or Franky, a mechanic and inventor.

* * *

Luffy ended up in Robin's library. It was the largest library in Grandline, and it had some of the oldest books in the world there – Robin wouldn't even let museums take the books, claiming that everyone should be free to read the books and know the historic information within them. Her library was large and quiet. Everyone knew better than to be loud and rambunctious there, everyone but Luffy, that was, but Robin never seemed to mind, so regular visitors became used to seeing or hearing him every once in a while.

"Hi, Robin!" he greeted cheerfully as he entered.

Robin smiled fondly. "Good afternoon, Luffy," she replied smoothly. "No Usopp or Nami today?"

Luffy pouted as he sprawled his upper half across the front desk where she sat. "Noooo," he whined. "Everyone's busy today. Even Franky." And usually Franky took time off of whatever he was doing to show Luffy some super cool invention, but he had to run to help his brother, Iceberg, with something. "So I came here."

Robin chuckled. "Unfortunately, I'm busy, too, Luffy."

Another drawn out whine escaped the younger male and she patted his head.

"There's something you could do for me," she suddenly added, making her friend look up at her with wide, pleading eyes. "It might alleviate your boredom." She turned his head until he was looking at a boy around his age with pink hair; the boy had a book open on the table in front of him, but he was gazing out the window closest to him instead of reading. "His name is Coby and he just started coming in last week. According to a few of my...friends..." And by 'friends' she meant 'contacts'. "...he was kidnapped as a child and was just recently found. But his parents are dead and he's in the orphanage your grandfather donates his free time to."

Luffy looked at her in horror. His grandfather was the worst person to be around, especially if you were a child.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" she suggested. "Take him out to play, maybe invite Chopper, too."

Luffy beamed immediately. "Good idea! Thanks, Robin!"

She just smiled and watched him bound over and introduce himself enthusiastically to the startled boy. It didn't take long to convince Coby to hang out with Luffy – it never took long for anyone to grow comfortable with such a joyful person – and Robin watched them leave, both smiling and laughing.


	38. Soul Jars AU

**A/N: I wrote this for my Creative Writing final in school, and I really liked how it turned out. I had to change a few things, but other than that, I thought everyone would appreciate something new. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

When the apocalypse came upon the Earth, no one was prepared. There weren't any warnings, no signs that anything was wrong until it was too late to prevent it from getting worse. The apocalypse wasn't started by an incurable disease that turned everyone into zombies. It began when stars surrounding the planet began to die. The radiation from the constant supernovas tore holes in Earth's ozone layer and reached the planet's surface. Vegetation was destroyed and nuclear storms ravaged the land and seas. Humans were affected as well, some mutating uncontrollably into savage monsters while others changed internally, retaining their normal outward appearance. The apocalypse also brought upon an unnatural phenomenon when people died. The souls of the deceased could be seen leaving their host's body, and people could even keep them in jars. Despite the lack of media to spread the news, it soon became common knowledge around the world that souls of the lost could be captured; they gave off eternal light that was rumored to burn brighter the more a person had loved in their life.

It wasn't unusual to come across someone who never had anyone in their life to lose, who never had to own a soul jar, but Marco hadn't expected to run into such a person after fleeing from a rabid mutant. He'd chosen to drop down a manhole on a whim that the sewer's stench would mask his own scent. Once down there, with the glow of his soul jars dimmed from the outer material of his bag, he could barely make out the figure of another human. He edged forward, prepared search through the pockets of what he thought was a corpse, until a foot connected with his gut, sending him reeling back. He caught a glint of metal and raised his hands, crouching down to appear less intimidating.

"Sorry," he whispered, voice echoing slightly in the damp tunnel. "I thought you were dead."

It was blunt, but true. His almost-victim didn't have a soul jar with them, which added to his previous assumption that they were deceased.

"My name is Marco," he offered, attempting to put his fellow survivor at ease.

"I'm Ēsu. You can call me Ace," the other finally replied.

Marco relaxed and slowly settled onto the cold concrete, crossing his legs and slowly lowering his hands to his sides. Ace didn't move from where he was sitting rigidly against the wall.

"Please point your gun at me if it helps you relax." Marco knew he couldn't die from being shot, anyway.

Ace jolted, as if he hadn't expected to be spoken to again, but didn't raise his weapon. Marco shrugged and pulled his bag off of his back, moving it to his lap and unzipping it. The sewer tunnel was suddenly lit up as if a portion of the sun had made an appearance. Marco gently moved around the jars in his bag, trying to search for the withered apples he had the fortune to find before the mutant tried to eat him.

"Are those soul jars?"

Ace's voice was a lot closer than it had been before, and Marco looked up to see that his tunnel-mate had indeed closed the distance between them. Ace's eyes were as dark as his hair and he had freckles on his face. If Marco had to guess, he'd say that Ace was of Brazilian descent, despite the Japanese origins of his name. It was quite a contrast to Marco's own blond hair and blue eyes.

"How many of those do you have?" Ace asked, breaking Marco out of his mental cataloging of how different they were.

"Only twelve," Marco said nonchalantly.

" _Only?_ "

Marco had expected such a reaction. Not many survivors had more than four people to lose, if any, much less twelve. Marco had been traveling for a long time, and he lost his father and all eleven of his brothers on his journey. He knew he would, though. When the apocalypse hit ten years prior, he had ceased to age - he was now twenty-nine and still retained the appearance of an older teenager - and upon being injured, he healed through flames. His father had likened him to phoenix. "Phoenix Marco" had become a common nickname amongst his family, despite some teasing from his older brothers about his flames being the color of cerulean peacock feathers.

"Yeah. I have fourteen jars, but they're not all holding souls." Marco didn't add that the empty jars were reserved for any friends he might gain and lose along his journey.

Ace looked intrigued. They spent hours talking about the apocalypse and Marco enjoyed being able to reminisce about his family with someone other than his own conscience. Because of the constant destruction of stars, it was never really night, but darkness still made it's appearance when, behind the storm clouds, the sun was covered by the moon, so Marco closed his bag and set it between them as they went to sleep.

* * *

The next day, when he prepared to set out again, Ace requested to tag along. Marco readily agreed; he'd enjoyed the company after so long alone. They set off after splitting some food that Marco had come across. He knew none of the food was poisonous or harmful because he had thrown out whatever had made his heart stop or caused him to be sick beforehand. Only an hour into their journey, Ace's stomach growled. Marco glanced over at him and was amused by the red hue that fought with freckles for attention on the young face.

"Sorry. I've got a big appetite."

Marco wondered how that was possible with so little food available. Ace stuck his pinky in his ear, looking a little sheepish.

"Can we kill a mutant or something?"

Marco blanched for a moment, thinking Ace meant someone who'd received abnormal abilities like himself, but then he realized that the giant mutated monsters were the topic of conversation.

"They can be killed?"

Ace gave him a look that made him feel dumb, much like when he accidentally made a fool of himself in front of his family, but he'd honestly never tried to kill one of the beasts. He always ran, not wanting to risk one of his jars breaking.

"Well, yeah, that's how I eat them."

Marco shrugged and grumbled a little, which made his companion laugh while taking the lead. It didn't take long to find a mutant, and it looked like the one that had chased Marco the night before. Of course, the mutants never looked very different from each other.

"Alright, watch and learn," Ace boasted cockily.

Marco crossed his arm, waiting for Ace to drawn his gun, but the brunet just approached the deviant creature, whistling sharply to catch its attention. It turned away from where it was digging around in rubble and it roared, a loud noise that practically made the air vibrate. It charged for Ace and Marco tensed, prepared to drop his bag and save the dumb brat, but then Ace's hands lit up with fire and he ducked into a crouch when the beast tried to bite him, grabbing its neck with his flaming hands and making it scream in a pitch that made Marco's ears ring and his temple pound. Then the scream cut off abruptly and there was a loud _**thump**_ as the creature toppled over, successfully decapitated. Ace turned to Marco, grinning, and lifted a hand that showed no signs of his ability except the flame that flickered atop his pointer finger, which he promptly blew out before tucking his finger into the waistband of his jeans, as if holstering a gun. Marco snorted at the ridiculous gesture, then shuffled in place, embarrassed at the childish reaction. It seemed to please Ace, though, as his grin grew wider.

"That's cheating," the older male pointed out as he joined his new companion.

"Is it?" Dark eyes flashed mischievously. "I'll try to remember that next time."

Ace decided to go gather materials for a fire while Marco was left with the task of cutting up the beast. He didn't have a knife on him, so he took out one of his empty jars and walked a few steps away before smashing it against the ground. He picked up the largest shard of glass and returned to the carcass, gripping the glass tightly and ignoring the blood that ran down his arm as he jabbed it into the monster's stomach and began the process of gutting it. By the time Ace had returned, arms loaded with more material than he should've been able to carry by himself, Marco had carved up the beast and his hands were free of their previous lacerations, the only proof being the blood along his arm and staining the blunt side of the shard. Fortunately Ace thought all of the blood came from their food and didn't ask any questions. As much as Marco trusted Ace already, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to reveal his own ability. With a warm fire and new company, Marco felt more content than he had in a long time. Not only did he have a full stomach, but he was in the company of his family and a friend.

"Ready to go?" he asked, standing.

Ace stood as well, kicking dirt onto the fire to put it out, and grinned. "Yep."

For weeks afterwards, the duo fell into a routine. They'd wake up in the morning, hunt down a mutant to eat, then walk until nightfall. Sometimes, if Ace was particularly hungry, they'd have to get another mutant in the afternoon, but usually his "big appetite" was sated by a morning meal. It felt so normal, as if they weren't living in a time where fearing for one's life was the only way to survive. Marco felt the contentedness bloom into insurmountable feelings of joy, irritation, and love, emotions he hadn't felt since the last of his brothers left him, and he should have known that it would end.

* * *

When winter arrived, three months since Ace joined Marco in his journey, it came in the form of fine grains of salt entwining with snowflakes that carved paths to the ground. The weather made Marco feel drained and exhausted and Ace seemed to be experiencing the same effects, practically falling asleep on his feet. They began hunting less and resting more often, usually beneath some sort of cover to regain their strength without the salt-snow mixture coming in contact with them. The last thing they wanted to do was wake beneath a pile of the concoction and be unable to dig themselves out.

"I bet this is what hibernating animals feel like," Ace moaned as they traveled through a particularly thick storm of white. "Can we stop?"

The idea was tempting, but Marco just wrapped an arm around Ace's shoulders to keep him walking when he began to falter.

"No, we have to find shelter, remember? Tell you what, if you can find us someplace dry and warm, then we can stop."

Ace brightened up and it was almost as if he had his original energy back as he leapt out from beneath Marco's arm and sprinted ahead. Marco continued his leisurely pace, grinning at his companion's antics. That smile disappeared almost as swiftly as it had appeared when he heard a panicked scream coming from the same direction his freckled friend had vanished into, followed by scattered gunshots and a chilling, inhuman screech. Forcing his body out of its sluggish state, Marco ran towards the cries, heart pounding in his ears as jars clunked around in his bag. When the phoenix finally found Ace, it felt like his breath was wrangled out of his lungs. A mutant, larger than the ones they usually attempted to hunt, had him pinned to the ground. Ace was bleeding, something Marco had never seen before - Ace's abilities made him turn to flames when something pierced or came in contact with his body, leaving him unable to be injured in the first place. Marco reached into his pocket, fingers curling around the glass shard he'd kept from their first mutant kill together.

"Hey!" Marco yelled, trying to get its attention while attempting not look at the still, bloody mess his friend was becoming.

The beast turned its attention to him immediately, jaws smeared in Ace's life essence. It let out a thunderous roar and charged for him. He was prepared, rolling to the side and coming up on one knee, stabbing the glass into the beast's side. The shard was ripped from his hand as the monster turned to face him, clattering across the ground. Marco dove for it, but the mutant was faster, it's claws digging into his stomach and chest and tearing an anguished wail from his throat as he was tossed aside. He landed on his back, lungs deflating once more. He could taste blood as he curled in on himself and coughed, waiting for the familiar flames to appear and take away the pain, but nothing happened. He was dizzy, bleeding, and too weak to move as the monster approached. As it raised a clawed hand, prepared to finish him off, he closed his eyes and awaited a demise he wasn't prepared for. But instead of more pain, or the blissful abyss of death, he heard the beast gurgle and he was drenched in something warm and sticky. He opened his eyes and found the head of the mutant mere inches from himself, but it had been removed from its body, both of which were steaming in the cool air. Clenched tightly in Marco's quaking hand was the glass shard.

Marco didn't take the time to wonder how he managed to kill the beast as he tried to get to his feet. When he tried to straighten, the deep punctures in his torso throbbed in unison, giving him a painful reminder that he wasn't healing. He settled for pulling himself across the ground on his hands and knees, locking his elbows so his trembling arms wouldn't give out from underneath him. He didn't care for his glass shard, which had slid out of his bloodied hand, or the possibility of his own death. He could see Ace, and he knew that Ace was dead because there was a shimmering orb of light rising from his chest. It hovered above the gaping wound inflicted by the monster, lighting up the world as if it were a supernova. It was brighter than any soul Marco had ever encountered, including those of his own family members, and as he reached his friend's body, he pulled his bag off of his back. He opened it and removed an empty jar. With trembling hands, he unscrewed the top and lifted the glass until the soul was within its waxy confines. The jar was almost too small to contain it, but it did, and Marco closed it before clutching it to his chest. Tears cascaded down his cheeks, leaving rough patches for the brisk winter air to abuse. He cried himself dry before he could move, and by then his joints were stiff from the cold. He pulled himself together as he closed his backpack, put it on his back, and gathered up Ace's soul jar before forcing himself to his feet and stumbling forward to find a place out of the salt-snow where he could mourn himself to sleep.

* * *

It took months for the winter to end, and when it finally did, the scars that'd accumulated from the mutant's attack, as well as beasts he faced afterwards, burst into sapphire flames and left his skin unblemished, as if nothing had changed since he began his journey. Except things _had_ changed. As if Ace's death had triggered some sort of cataclysm, as soon as winter finished its course, grass, seedlings, and vegetation that hadn't been seen since the beginning of the apocalypse began to make a reappearance. Clouds came and went in cycles rather than dominating the sky, and the sun warmed the Earth once more. Nights were dark, dotted with stars too far away to cause as much damage as the previous dying stars had and the silvery moon. Marco started traveling primarily at night as more and more non-mutant people began to make a reappearance. During one of these travels, he encountered two other nocturnal survivors, a red-haired man who was missing his left arm and a young boy, not much younger than Ace had been, whose face was marred by a scar beneath his left eye. The boy was carrying one soul jar while the man had three.

"Hi, stranger," the redhead greeted, hand resting on the hilt of a sword sheathed at his right hip. "I'm Shanks."

Before Marco could tell him to go about his own business, the boy was speaking up.

"Whoa, that's a bright soul jar!" he exclaimed, focusing on the jar that was tied to Marco's hip, providing an almost daylight-like light.

"Luffy," Shanks said in a warning tone.

"Is that the brightest soul in the world?" the young teen asked, eyes bright with curiosity as he looked up at Marco.

Marco was abruptly reminded of how Ace had looked upon seeing his family's soul jar, and he recalled the rumor his father had overheard, about how souls glowed brighter the more a person had loved in their life. He remembered how mistrustful Ace had been upon their first meeting, and how much he had changed during their time together. Marco couldn't stop a small smile from spreading, erasing the previous indifferent expression he'd gotten used to wearing.

"Yeah," he mumbled, watching Luffy's face brighten with amazement. "His name was Ace. He lived with no regrets, and he loved so much that he had some to spare, and it went to the world."

* * *

 **(A/N: So? What did you think? I'd love to hear feedback about this chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!)**


	39. ASL Bros Week, Day 5 - AceSL

Portgas D. Ace

" _You're always making me worried, how can I not_ **P** _rotect my little brother?"_

" _There is_ **O** _ne thing that makes me wanna stay. That is my desire to see you fulfill your dream."_

" _We have to live a life of no_ **R** _egrets."_

 _"_ **T** _hank you...for loving me!"_

 _"_ **G** _et out of here Luffy! Why did you come!?_ _"_

" _I_ **A** _m going to make Whitebeard the King."_

 _"_ **S** _tart living before you start dying."_

 _"_ **D** _o you think I should really have been born...?"_

" **A** _t this last moment I'm starting to think that I wanna live!"_

" _You never_ **C** _hange, Luffy."_

 _"I don't wanna live a thousand years. If I just live through today, that'll be_ **E** _nough."_


	40. Eye Contact, Soul Mate AU - Ace x Sabo

_**Eye Contact: Write about two people seeing each other for the first time.**_

* * *

 **(A/N: This is a Soulmate AU for Ace and Sabo since I missed the end of ASL Bros Week. So this is the 'you don't see colors until you make eye contact with your soulmate' kind of thing. Also, I wanted to share my own take on how the two met. I hope everyone enjoys reading this!)**

* * *

Ace had wandered away from Dadan's place again, a thick branch clenched firmly in his small five-year-old hand. He'd learned the hard way that taking on the beasts of the forest without some kind of weapon was exhausting and time consuming. It was much simpler to bash them in the heads with something hard and stones were too difficult to keep a grip on while fighting.

After overhearing the bandits discussing some place called the Grey Terminal, the freckled child decided to investigate. He wasn't quite sure why the place was labeled as it was, since the world was only made up of blacks, whites, and greys. He was up to finding out, though.

He only knew when he'd arrived because of the bandits' descriptions; Grey Terminal really was a trash wasteland. He hovered at the edge, eyes scanning for danger, but when he didn't see any immediate threats, he took his first tentative steps onto the wide-spread rubbish. There were minimal signs of human life amongst the trash, but no people made an appearance as he wandered further into the space between Goa Kingdom and Mount Corvo. He froze when he heard what sounded like metal against metal, loud in the previous silence. He tried to be stealthy as he approached the source of the noise, though it was a bit more difficult when almost everywhere he stepped was covered in trash that shifted beneath his weight. He spotted a pipe as he crept across the landscape and didn't think twice about swapping his tree branch for it. The pipe was lighter than his branch, but it felt right and he was glad to have a weapon that likely wouldn't break if he hit something hard with it.

Now armed with a new weapon, Ace was more confident as he scaled a pile of trash to get the upper hand on the potential danger he was approaching. He reached the top and peered down the slope to the child at the bottom. The boy looked to be about Ace's age, but he was dressed rather fancily for someone who lived among trash.

Ace must've made some kind of noise because the boy looked up. They both froze as their eyes met and the world exploded in color.

* * *

 **(A/N: Sorry it's so short (everything seems longer when you write it on paper). I just wanted to write something for the prompt at the top, and this came to mind. What do you guys think?)**


	41. Only Sparks Remain - Soulmate AU

**(A/N: So this is an official continuation (aka part 2) of _Eye Contact,_ as requested by **Rboooks **on Fanfiction. The prequel doesn't have to be read to understand this. This is a Soul Mate AU where people see colors after making eye contact with their soulmate and lose the color after their soulmate dies. What do you guys think? Please enjoy! Also, this is for Day 7 of SaboAce Week: _Free Day._**

 ** _Warning: Spoilers for Dressrosa Arc and Episode of Sabo_ )**

* * *

Sabo recalled vividly _sitting in the grass upon the upper slope of the small, isolated island. Before him stood two proud graves, the cape and hat upon them swaying in the breeze. Flower petals drifted around him, the grass – grey as bedrock – rustled around him, and the sun gleamed off of the sake in the three red cups – he knew they were red because he had asked Koala* to confirm the color for him – resting before the gravestone marked 'Portgas D. Ace'. He remained there, recalling Ivankov's thorough description of the events at Marineford, especially those that revolved around his brothers. He could almost see it, could almost feel like he witnessed it...but it just wasn't enough to quench the guilt in his stomach._

 _"I guess both you and Luffy are mad at me," he said lowly, voice quaking subtly. He inhaled sharply, pulling himself together to continue speaking. "I couldn't go save you..."_

 _Sabo prided himself on not being one to cry, but he didn't bother to stop the sudden appearance of tears that ran down his face._

 _"I'm sorry!" Those words were meaningless in the face of his failure to save Ace, he knew. He wished he could say them face-to-face instead. "I wish... I wish I could've seen you again while you were alive!" He wished he could've remembered his soulmate sooner and realized just how much he meant to him..._

 _He wiped away the tears after a brief moment, then gingerly lifted one of the sake cups, eyes locked onto the orange hat that once belonged to his brother. "I'm gonna inherit...your will!"_

 _There was something about this Lucy character... He had thought the small gladiator was done for, in the ring with such well-known fighters. He had put his bets on Don Chin Jao being the winner, until he took a closer look at the surprisingly strong fighter. Was that a...straw hat (poorly disguised) hanging against his back?_

There's no way...

 _Lucy turned slightly to view the crowd and Sabo caught sight of an achingly familiar scar beneath the man's left eye._

That's...

 _The cheers of the crowd seemed to fade away._

 _"I see..." Sabo said quietly. "As I suspected, you are here, Luffy."_

 _He felt a bit guilty about not being able to recognize his brother sooner. Childhood memories of his time with Ace and Luffy danced in his mind; running through the forest, stealing ramen, fighting men in the alleyways..though the memories were tinted in grey instead of flush with color like they had been when they occurred. His lips quirked slightly, until he remembered the events of Marineford that Ivankov had reported. His fingers scraped against the stone of the window as he tried to hold together his splintering emotions._

 _As the match dragged on, Sabo watched with eager anticipation as Luffy faced Don Chin Jao. He wanted to see his brother's strength with his own eyes. But he hadn't expected Luffy to have such a powerful spirit._

 _"Conqueror's Haki..."_

 _The combined haki had knocked the rest of the ring gladiators out cold. It was a fast-paced battle, but Sabo had no trouble keeping track of both of their movements. It was an amazing fight to witness. Of course, it didn't take long for the small amount of awe to be extinguished._

 _"The Navy showed some good insight when they squelched the most evil of the lot," Don Chin Jao was saying. "I mean Ace, of course, in the war two years ago. That fool had the demon's blood in his veins!"_

 _An excruciating pain gripped Sabo's heart at the words, then insurmountable rage. How dare he talk so casually about Ace's death like that! Luffy obviously felt the same as he sent Chin Jao flying with a Hawk Rifle (and oh how Sabo wished he could join his brother and add in his own attack against the man). Luffy launched himself into the sky and, to Sabo's amazement, enlarged one of his fists, coating it in Armament Haki. Luffy's Thor Elephant Gun and Chin Jao's head-on (literally) attack collided with more Conqueror's Haki before Chin Jao's head suddenly spiked and he fell, head first, onto the ring, cracking it clean in half. The win belonged to Luffy! An uproar came from the crowd._

 _Sabo smiled fondly as he looked upon Luffy's cheering form. Then he headed back into the depths of the Colosseum._

 _"Now you're a man of 400 million, so you have so many enemies." He headed down another path to avoid colliding with any of the gladiators. "But I still can't believe that crybaby became so strong... Can you, Ace?"_

 _ **"Hey, Sabo!"**_

 _He stopped walking at the familiar voice a **nd turned, peering down from his spot in their tree-branch meeting place, and beamed. "Oh, Ace!"**_

 _ **"Sorry I'm late!" the other boy called, holding up his bag of loot proudly.**_

 _ **When Ace joined him on the tree, he dropped his bag next to Sabo's meager collection.**_

 _ **"Whoa! You got a lot! Way more than I did!" He flipped through a stack of belis. "That's a lot of money! How'd you get that?"**_

 _ **"I robbed some thugs," Ace replied simply.**_

 _ **"Damn! You won again!" Sabo laughed as he tossed the money into their secret hole in one of the tree's thick branches.**_

 _ **"It doesn't matter if you win or lose. This is our 'pirate savings' that we'll use together someday."**_

 _ **Sabo's heart felt warm at Ace's words. They had come a long way from Sabo chasing Ace and Ace attacking him (with one such attack resulting in Sabo's missing tooth).**_

 _ **"It's been five years since we started it. We worked hard."**_

 _ **"I wonder how much we need to get a pirate ship," Sabo said wistfully.**_

 _ **"'A pirate ship'?!" came a voice from below.**_

 _ **Both boys jolted, glancing at each other in surprise. Sabo kicked the top of the secret opening back into place before he and Ace peered over the edge of the branch to see some small brat waving up at them.**_

 _ **"You guys! Are you gonna become pirates?! I'm gonna become one, too!"**_

* * *

 _ **Sometimes Sabo wished Ace was less complicated, wanting to face the lower scum Bluejam Pirates on his own, even after Luffy was freed from his bonds and ready to be rushed away, like they'd planned in the first place. Of course Sabo couldn't leave his other half behind. Together they managed to beat Porchemy and escape. Sabo patched Luffy up to the best of his abilities and stood back with Ace as the younger boy bawled his eyes out. Sabo wasn't quite sure about what to do, but Ace yelled at him to shut up.**_

 _ **"Stop crying already!" the freckled boy growled. "I don't like cowards or people who cry a lot!"**_

 _ **Luffy clamped up so quickly that Sabo almost jumped. "Um..." Luffy choked out. "Thank you! For... For helping me!"**_

 _ **Then he started crying again.**_

 _ **"You...!" Ace began.**_

 _ **"Whoa-whoa," Sabo soothed. "He's just being thankful."**_

 _ **A bit more interrogation revealed that Luffy kept quiet about their treasure's whereabouts because he wanted Ace to be his friend.**_

 _ **"Being lonely is more painful than getting hurt!" he claimed.**_

 _ **Sabo agreed, recalling his life before the Grey Terminal, and before Ace.**_

 _ **"Is it easy for you when I'm around?" Ace asked quietly.**_

 _ **"Uh-huh." Luffy nodded.**_

 _ **"It's hard without me?"**_

 _ **Another firm nod and noise of agreement.**_

 _ **"Do you want me to...live?"**_

 _ **Sabo lifted his gaze from the ground. He knew about Ace's parentage and he also knew that Ace sometimes didn't feel like he deserved the life he was given, that it wasn't good that he was born. The ex-noble was also sad that he couldn't make Ace feel wanted by himself.**_

 _ **"Of course I do!" Luffy huffed, and suddenly he moved near the top of Sabo's short list of 'People I Like,' below Ace, of course.**_

 _ **Watching Ace and Luffy begin bickering, Sabo couldn't help but smile. He was sure they would be alright in the end.**_

* * *

 _ **They found him. He couldn't believe they found him.**_

 _ **"Stop it!" he cried, straining to break free from the thick arm wrapped around his neck and holding him above the ground.**_

 _ **Luffy and Ace laid on the ground, glaring at the men surrounding them. He was so scared, but not for himself – for them. He feared for their lives.**_

 _ **"Sabo..." Luffy called, his voice weak in a way Sabo had never heard and wished he never had to.**_

 _ **"Give Sabo back!" Ace demanded, never thinking about himself – the perfect example of an older brother.**_

 _ **"What, you little shit? Do you want more?!" one of the men sneered, lifting Ace by the front of his shirt and pulling back a fist.**_

 _ **"Stop it!" Sabo yelled again, but it was useless. His breath caught in his throat as Ace was struck hard – these men didn't hold back, even against children – and he was sure he'd start crying if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't going to earn the title of crybaby like Luffy, and if he started crying, it would just scare Luffy more and make Ace do even stupider things than just stand up to the jerks.**_

 _ **"I'm okay..." Ace huffed, waving off Luffy's concern as he was always prone to do.**_

 _ **"Give him back, Bluejam!" Luffy shouted.**_

 _ **"What do you mean 'give him back'? Sabo is my son."**_

 _ **Sabo felt chills spread down his spine at the voice of his father. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Outlook, with a cloth held over his face as if the Grey Terminal and Sabo's brothers would corrupt him if he breathed the same air as them.**_

 _ **"How dare you two tempt Sabo to run away?"**_

 _ **Sabo twisted to glare at his father. He wouldn't let his brothers be blamed for his decision – he was man enough to take any punishment handed out for his disappearance from home. "Nobody tempted me! I ran away of my own will!"**_

 _ **"You stay out of this!" his father ordered, then turned his attention away from him as if to dismiss him. "I'll leave the rest up to you, pirates."**_

 _ **"Of course, mister," Bluejam replied.**_

 _ **Sabo was disgusted that even pirates fell to the whims of corrupt noblemen like Outlook.**_

 _ **"We will take care of these two so they won't bother your boy again."**_

 _ **That was the last thing Sabo wanted. If he'd known that this would happen – if he'd known that his happiness would lead to endangering Luffy and Ace – he wouldn't returned home without a fuss, if only to spare them the agony of losing him. And as the pirate lifted his blade, Sabo panicked. So he spoke quickly, hardly thinking before speaking.**_

 _ **"Wait a minute, Bluejam! Dad, that's enough! I understand!"**_

 _ **Bluejam released him and he landed on his feet under the cold gaze of his father.**_

 _ **"What do you understand?"**_

 _ **"Don't do it, Sabo!" Ace's voice was full of desperation, but Sabo didn't turn to look at him for fear that he wouldn't be able to go through with his plan.**_

 _ **"I'll live as you want, so please don't hurt these two!" He took a shaky breath. "I'm begging you. They're very important to me—they're my brothers!"**_

 _ **"Let's go home, Sabo," his father said with a soft scoff.**_

 _ **With slow steps, as if he was being led to his own execution, Sabo approached his father, shoulders tense and head down.**_

 _ **"Hey! Don't go!" Ace cried.**_

 _ **Sabo's steps faltered and he could feel his shoulder begin to tremble as he fought not to cry.**_

 _ **"Run! You don't have to worry about us!"**_

 _ **Tears escaped, trailing down his face, no matter how hard he clenched his jaw or tried to hold it in. Didn't Ace see that if they died, Sabo would have no one left? Everything would go back to gray-scale, not only in his vision but in his life.**_

 _ **"You said you wanna live freely with us!"**_

 _ **A sob almost escaped. Ace wasn't making this easy to do, and his legs felt like cement, but Sabo slowly continued walking away from the life he'd made for himself outside of the corrupt city. He could hear his father begin to laugh, as if mocking Ace's attempts to draw him back. Sabo wanted to turn around and run to his brothers, just to spite his father, but knowing that that would just bring a painful end to Ace and Luffy's lives stopped him from rebelling.**_

 _ **"Are you gonna put an end to your dream, Sabo?!"**_

 **That dream wouldn't be complete without you...** _ **Sabo thought sorrowfully, but he didn't even look back.**_

 _ **"Sabo!" Luffy called, voice choked with tears.**_

 _ **"Sabo!" they both cried, and he felt like his heart was breaking in two.**_

 _ **When the nobles burned Grey Terminal, it was more than Sabo could take. He knew that his brothers would live, but he wished fervently that he could've been out there to make sure of it, even at the cost of his own life. But he wouldn't give up on his dreams anymore; he would just have to meet up with Ace and Luffy later, when they become the best pirates in the world, like he knew they could.**_

 _ **So he set out on the day that the Celestial Dragon was supposed to visit, when his parents and Stelly were out to greet the "esteemed" man with everyone else. He wouldn't stay behind bars for the rest of his life. He would be free, no matter the cost. But he hadn't expected there to be such corruption that came from so far across the sea. And as he desperately tried to pat out the flames – as he turned at the sound of another cannonball heading straight for him – as fear paralyzed his every movement – he wondered if Ace and Luffy would forgive him for dying.**_

 _ **Then there was nothing but pain and darkness.**_

* * *

 _ **Sabo was glad to be back at the Revolutionary base at Baltigo after a long mission, especially since near the end of it, a deep ache settled in his chest. Things were in an uproar, however, and when they stepped into the main debriefing room, everyone within was reading the most recent news. Likely about the war at Marineford. Even busy with a mission as they were, Sabo and Koala had heard about it.**_

 _ **"The ones who died in the war were..." one of the men began reading. "...the Emperor – Whitebeard..."**_

 _ **Sabo wasn't all that interested in finding out all the details of the war. He just wanted food and sleep.**_

 _ **"...and...Fire Fist Ace!"**_

 _ **Sabo felt the ache in his chest increase and everything seemed to fade around him. His vision blurred and the pale blue walls seemed to blur and turn into grey before returning to normal.**_

 _ **"But more importantly, Dragon**_ **-san** ** _, look..." the man continued, his voice sounding faraway to Sabo. "Is it true?! Is Straw Hat Luffy your son?!"_**

 _ **Sabo's heart beat pounded loudly in his ears. He didn't know why, but those two names were resonating with him.**_

 _ **"Hm? Yes, he is," Dragon replied.**_

 _ **"What?!" everyone in the room exclaimed in shock.**_

 _ **Sabo grabbed one of the newspapers that sat in a pile on the table in the middle of the room. He felt like his actions weren't his own, as if his movements were being controlled by an outside force. His breathing came in shaky gasps and his hands trembled as he unfolded the paper. His eyes widened slightly and he felt sweat begin beading on his face.**_

 **"Fire Fist Ace Dies,"** ** _the newspaper headline read in bold letters beneath the portrait picture of a dark haired man with freckles and a mischievous smile._**

 _"Ace! Luffy! We gotta set out to sea someday!" It was his own voice, from when he was a child, alight with excitement. "Let's get out of his country and live freely!"_

 _"I'm gonna become a pirate..." A boy stood at the edge of a cliff, the vision of him blurry and his words echoing. "...and defeat others and become infamous! It'll be the only proof of my life!"_

 _ **Sabo didn't know how he knew, but he knew that this boy wasn't always so passionate about a subject; it erased all the lingering darkness and doubt he seemed to carry around with him.**_

 _ **Sabo felt like he was underwater, struggling to breath. Sweat – or was it tears – dripped from his face, dotting the face of Ace on the front page.**_

 _"It doesn't matter if all the people in the world reject me or despise me!" The boy's face suddenly became clear and despite how young he was, there was no mistaking it: this boy was Ace, and Sabo had known him. "I'll become a great pirate and show them what I can do!"_

 _**Sabo slammed the newspaper onto the table, his hands on either side, holding him up as he shook, pain increasing in his temples, throbbing in time to his heart. He could feel the gazes of a few people in the room, but he couldn't calm down or bring himself to care as he wheezed, unable to take a deep breath to rid himself of the darkening in his vision.**_

 _ **"Sabo**_ **-kun** ** _, what's wrong?!" Koala asked in a concerned voice from behind him. "You're acting strange!"  
More droplets appeared on the newspaper and this time he knew he was crying. He had never cried before, not even as a child, and small whimpers were escaping from him that he couldn't stop._**

 _ **"I can't believe that Ace was Gold Roger's son..." one of the others mumbled. "He was the biggest threat to the Navy so they wanted to get rid of him at any cost."**_

 _"Did you guys know?!" Ace popped the cork out of the bottle of sake he snagged from Dadan's stash._

 _**"They say Akainu punched a hole right through his body!"**_

 _ **Sabo felt his chest tighten and it became even harder to breath because what a terrible fate Ace received and Sabo wasn't even there to try and stop it!**_

 _"We can become brothers if we exchange this cup of sake," Ace continued, pouring sake into the three red cups he'd brought along._

 _"Brothers? Really?!" Luffy asked excitedly._

 _"When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship but our brotherhood will always be with us!" He lifted one of the cups, the red ceramic glimmering in the sunlight. "Wherever you are, whatever you do, we'll always be bonded together!" Sabo and Luffy followed Ace's lead, lifting their own cups. "So from now on," Ace said, smiling – he was so happy, happier than Sabo remembered him ever being, "we're brothers!"_

 _They tapped their cups together as Sabo and Luffy cried out with an affirming, "Yeah!"_

 _**Sabo felt a scream rising up from within – it came out strangled through his tears as he stumbled away from the table as his knees weakened, the brown wood turning dull, then he leaned over the table, struggling to stay up.**_

 _ **"Are you alright, Sabo?!" Hack asked.**_

 _ **He tried to push himself up and away from the table; he needed to get away. He needed to find someplace to be alone and come in terms with the fact that his soulmate was gone. He choked on tears and air as he slid back from the table, the newspaper fluttering to the ground, and the shrill wail that escaped him roared in his ears, mingling with his heart beat. He heard Koala and Hack calling for him, but he barely registered it as his legs began to give out.**_

 **Now I know!** ** _Even his thoughts came to him with the trembling of tears._ The one who died wasn't some unknown pirate... _His forgotten childhood flashed through his mind._ He wasn't just some threat in the Pirate Era that needed to be eliminated! Ace is my...brother!**

 **_The ceiling went from pale blue to gray-almost-white as he collapsed on the ground and everything went black._**

* * *

He hadn't been able to do anything while his brothers were stuck in the middle of a war and Ace died, but now... Now he was in the Colosseum, clad in his younger brother's previous disguise as 'Lucy', and fighting against Blackbeard's crewmate, Burgess, one of Doflamingo's Executives, Diamante, and Rebecca, the granddaughter of the old King Riku. The weirdo who was obsessed with his brother, Bar-something-or-other, was also there, but he wasn't a concern, since he didn't want Ace's Devil Fruit for himself. Besides, he was preoccupied with protecting Rebecca like he was told.

When chaos was aroused by the transformation of toys into people, he decided it was time to make his move. He cloaked his forearms in Armament and buried his fists into the arena, putting enough strength into it to crack the whole foundation, even beneath the water.

"Dragon Claw Fist! Dragon...Breath!"

The ring fell apart at the seams, rubble whipped around the resulting whirlpool. Sabo stood from his crouched position, eyes scanning the clogged water. Finally, what he'd been waiting for appeared. The Fighting Fish with the chest chained to its back. He hopped onto another surfacing fish and rode it until the two were close enough for him to swap rides. Once on the correct Fish's back, he shoved his fingers into the seams of the chest and tore it apart. He snagged the Mera Mera no Mi out of the air and landed where he had begun, holding the fruit high with a grin.

"Everybody's out of the ring!" he announced. "I'm the winner!"

"What?!" the announcer squeaked.

Sabo allowed his haki to fade as he brought the fruit closer to himself. "You said the one who gets this will be the winner!"

Gatz seemed to choke on air. "The Mera Mera no Mi!"

Sabo's heart began to race as he gazed upon his brother's – his soulmate's – Devil Fruit. "It's all mine, isn't it?" He could hardly believe he got his hands on it.

"Th... The champion! The champion!" Gatz cried in the background. "I know now isn't the time, but the one who got the Mera Mera no Mi by taking advantage of this mess is...the biggest dark horse of this competition – Lucy! He is the champion!"

Sabo finally lifted the Devil Fruit to his mouth, hand shaking almost imperceptibly, both from anxiousness and excitement. He took a bite and swallowed thickly, wishing he hadn't had to chew before hand because it was... "Disgusting!" he gagged.

He heard a choked off cry and glanced over to find Bartolomeo, with Rebecca's arms wrapped haphazardly around his neck, falling towards the water. He was quick to launch himself towards them, looping an arm around Rebecca's waist. He landed on a stray piece of rubble and used it to jump back into the air. He was going to need the height to do what he was planning. Bartolomeo gave a dazed plea for help, but Sabo bluntly told him to take care of himself, he was a man, wasn't he?

"I'm gonna make one more attack, so watch out," he called down as an afterthought, deciding Luffy might not be happy if he burned the rooster-head.

"What?!" the man yelped.

Sabo removed the fake, scratchy beard-and-mustache and sunglasses, then the plumed helmet. He felt much better without the confines of the disguise. He gazed at his hand, briefly wondering how he was supposed to go about triggering the Devil Fruit ability, but then he felt it, something bright and warm in his very _soul_ , and a small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips as he stretched his right hand towards the sky and clenched his fist, flames sparking to life around it.

"Ow, it's hot!" he gasped. "I really can generate a fire!" But as he gazed upon the crackling and growing fire, he realized that while the flames were certainly hot, they weren't like the flames that burned him as a child. "No, it's just my imagination," he breathed with a hint of awe in his voice. "It's not hot! I _am_ a fire now!"

He wondered if Ace felt so elated upon first getting his Devil Fruit ability.

"Ace!" The flames strengthened, as if to respond to the name of their old master. "I hereby take over your ability!" His mind flashed back to when he first read the news of Ace's death. "I never wanna go through that again. So...I will save Luffy's life that you saved with your life!"

 _Luffy!_ he thought. _You just take out the enemies in front of you and become the King of the Pirates._

 _"I promise! I... I will never die!"_ came a whisper in the back of his mind.

"Ace! We're gonna advance seeking freedom!"

The fire _roared_ , and then it happened. Starting as a small spark, color erupted from the flickering source of heat, overwhelming Sabo's senses as the blue of the sky, the tan of the Colosseum arena, and, most importantly, the gleaming gold and rust colored fire took the forefront of his attention.

Rebecca began to say something, but Sabo could hardly make out her voice through the echoes of familiar laughter in his mind, the static-like sound of the fire, and the absolute _need_ to officiate his bond with his brother's ability.

"Here I go!"

He wound his fist back, letting the flames collect air and grow.

"Fire Fist!"

He thrust his fist forward and the fire obeyed, arching towards the ring below. It obliterated rubble and hissed as it came into contact with the remaining water. But he knew it made it all the way down when the foundation of the ring shattered and the water, rubble, and the three other gladiators from the ring dropped down into the basement. The fire evaporated in a large cloud of steam.

* * *

 **(A/N: *Koala is one of those people who don't have a soulmate and thus have been born with the ability to see colors.**

 **Also, you won't believe how much time it took to decide on how Sabo got back his colors! At first, I was gonna just have it that when he ate the Devil Fruit, he got them back, but that was boring. So then I was gonna have it be when he first sparked up the flames, but in the episode, he wasn't looking at his hand until _after_ the flames were burning for a few seconds, and it didn't seem special enough, so in the end, when he claimed Ace's will and ability.**

 **Another thing: Sabo didn't lose his colors as soon as Ace died because he didn't even remember Ace was his soulmate, so there's that explanation.)**


	42. Filling the Void Soul Mate AU Ace x Sabo

**((A/N: So this is part three of a Soul Mate AU for Ace and Sabo. In this universe, you don't see colors until you make eye contact with your soulmate and when your soulmate dies, the color goes away. You don't have to read the first two parts to understand this, but so no one's confused, at the end of the second part (which I haven't even finished), Sabo gets his colors back after he eats Ace's Devil Fruit, so, yeah.))**

 _ **(Summary: Sometime after the events of Dressrosa, after parting with his precious little brother, Sabo has a dream where he's faced with Ace – not the Ace who he'd known as a child, but the Ace who had died without knowing that he still had two brothers.)**_

* * *

"Sabo-kun, are you alright?"

Koala's soft voice broken through Sabo's clouded thoughts. He realized that he'd been staring blankly at the table, his final plate of food only half consumed. He looked over at his friend, offering a smile he didn't quite feel met his usual standards.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her before lifting his plate to make it simpler to scarf down the rest of his meal. "I'm just a little tired," he added after swallowing.

Truth be told, ever since the Colosseum, a steadily building headache had bloomed and just thinking about it caused it to send a spiteful throb of pain arching through his head.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," he decided, setting down his cleared plate, standing and snagging his hat off the edge of the table.

"Okay. Goodnight, Sabo-kun!"

He nodded and made his way to his quarters. Once inside, he tossed his hat onto his paper-strewn desk and let himself fall onto the bed against the far wall, not bothering to take any of his clothes – not even his shoes – as he let his body relax on the refreshingly cool blankets (and he hoped he wasn't getting sick again).

After a moment, Sabo rolled onto his back and kicked off his shoes, spreading himself out on the bed. He simply breathed as he gazed at the ceiling. Then his attention was redirected to one of his gloved hands as he lifted it. He peeled off the glove, letting it drop over the edge of his bed to join his shoes, then he reached within himself, searching out the source of eternal warmth that had manifested not long ago. Once he found it, he tugged it to the surface and watched as sparks flickered between his fingers before flames curled around the base of his wrist and climbed until they were stretching past his fingertips.

After Dressrosa, with the adrenaline gone, Sabo had found it frustratingly difficult to control the fire compared to when he used it in fights. But laying alone and relaxed in his quarters, he was able to prevent the flames from getting out of hand. He briefly wondered how long it took Ace to learn to control the Mera Mera no Mi ability, but he pushed the thought out of his mind immediately, flames flickering as a melancholy pang struck his heart. With nothing to distract himself with, he found it immensely difficult to even think of his deceased brother and soulmate without being overwhelmed by guilt for not remembering him (and Luffy) and not being able to save him...

Sabo closed his eyes and clenched his hand into a fist, quenching the fire before rolling onto his side. He didn't often sleep like that, but being eagle-spread would just remind him of sleeping in the treehouse with his brothers. It took a few moments of minimal shifting to get comfortable enough to drift off.

* * *

 _When Sabo opened his eyes, he expected to still be sprawled on his bed after a dreamless nap, but he sat up in surprise when he found himself in the middle of a grassy landscape. A quick glance around revealed that every horizon seemed to stretch on forever, yet end with a pale light, as if the earth dropped off at each edge. Slowly getting to his feet, Sabo scratched his head, noting that he didn't have his hat but he had his pipe, and began walking forward. He was fairly certain that he'd only been walking for a few minutes but no matter how many steps he took, he got no closer to the source of light. He finally stopped, wondering just where he was (was he dreaming?) and why. Then a presence was behind him. He turned quickly, pipe drawn and in motion to attack the stranger, but his weapon was abruptly stopped, trapped in a firm grasp. Sabo couldn't care less about his pipe, however; his grip loosened and his eyes widened as he took in the man before him. Ace looked just like he had in every newspaper and Surveillance Den Den Mushi recording Sabo had gotten ahold of, except for one new addition: a rough, pink starburst scar in the center of his chest, where he'd been punched through by Akainu. Sabo was sure a matching scar marred the Jolly Roger of Whitebeard that had been tattooed onto Ace's back._

 _"A-Ace," Sabo stammered, startling himself with how rough his voice sounded._

 _Ace had been scrutinizing him, but when he spoke, the grey eyes suddenly filled with disbelief and elation; not a hint of malice was to be seen and when Ace pulled Sabo into a hug, the blond realized that, like Luffy, Ace wasn't angry with his abrupt return (even if it was just in a dream, it made Sabo feel better)._

 _After hugs were exchanged and Sabo made Ace blush by teasing him about the tattoo on his arm, they laid side-by-side in the grass, exchanging stories. Sabo felt like he was a million miles away and couldn't help but wonder when he got enough of an imagination to guess how Ace would describe his nakama or what certain adventures not posted in the newspaper the Whitebeard Pirates went on._

 _Ace evidently picked up on the fact that Sabo was distracted and stopped recalling stories, instead asking what was wrong. Sabo didn't reply, gazing forlornly at the too pale sky. He wondered when he would wake up. (He also wondered if he_ wanted _to wake up.)_

 _"Sabo."_

 _The Revolutionary tore his gaze away from the misty blue above and instead turned his attention to his brother, who was now sitting up and looking over with a contemplative expression._

 _"...yeah, Ace?" Sabo prompted when the freckled man didn't say anything._

 _"This isn't a dream," Ace finally breathed._

 _Sabo stared, unsure of how to react to such an outrageous claim, until the apparition seated next to him averted his eyes._

 _"Well, I mean... Obviously it's a_ dream _, but I really am alive."_

 _Sabo felt his eyes stinging with oncoming tears as he, too, glanced away. "Sure," he responded under his breath._

 _He heard a loud groan and turned back to find Ace on his back again, hands covering his face._

 _"I knew I should've told you after I figured out who you were..." Ace uncovered his face and locked eyes with Sabo, expression serious. Then he began to recount the events of Marineford with as much detail as Ivankov, but from a more personal perspective and Sabo found that he couldn't help but begin to believe that it was truly Ace with him. "I woke up a couple days ago, buried in the ground. It took a good, strong_ _ **Hibashira***_ _to get out."_

 _He looked a little crestfallen for a moment. "I saw Pops' grave next to my own... Marco must've been devastated..."_

 _The last bit seemed more spoken to himself, so Sabo dismissed it._

 _"My Devil Fruit was regrown, wasn't it?" It was said less like a question and more like a statement. "Who got it? I..._ felt _when someone else got my abilities."_

 _Sabo smiled sheepishly, lifting his hand (which was gloved again) and igniting it. It seemed easier to control the flames in the dream land. Ace's eyes lit up, every hint of apprehension for the answer vanishing as he mirrored his brother with his opposite hand and triggered his own fire. Sabo's eyes widened as Ace took his hand, their flames merging and radiating a bright light and warmth that almost seemed to represent their fate-bound souls. Sabo found his eyes watering again, not out of despair this time, and a smile graced his lips. Ace grinned brightly in return and pulled Sabo into a hug, still clutching his hand._

 _"It's okay. I'm here." Ace squeezed Sabo. "I'm waiting for you. I'll stay right_ _ **here**_ _, okay?"_

 _The dream landscape was beginning to glow as bright as the edges had been. Sabo guessed that meant they – or one of them – were waking up. Sabo held onto Ace tighter._

 _"You'll be where?" he asked desperately._

 _Ace laughed as it became too bright for Sabo to see anything._

 _"You know where!"_

* * *

Sabo jolted upright in bed, staring blankly in front of him for a moment before pushing himself off the bed and out the door, calling loudly and excitedly for Koala; they had a change in course to take before they got too far.

* * *

Ace slowly opened his eyes, sitting up and turning his attention to the open ocean that stretched to the horizon. He gently placed a hand flat over the scar on his chest, feeling his inner flame tugging in a certain direction, and he was sure it was pulling Sabo to him. He smiled at the thought and laid back down, pulling his hat over his face. A nap sounded like a nice way to spend his time waiting for his soulmate, and where better to nap than in the presence of his late Pops and his lost comrades?

* * *

 **((A/N: *one of Ace's attacks, it means "Pillar of Fire"; Sabo doesn't quite register at first that Ace has his abilities still because of the shock that Ace might be alive.**

 **Also, I don't have much of a logical explanation for Ace's resurrection, except maybe since Sabo and Ace's souls were connected and Ace's soul was also connected to his Devil Fruit, so when Sabo gained Ace's Devil Fruit ability, he had part of Ace's soul and that brought Ace back to life? You decide. Enjoy!))**


	43. Burning Memories - Soul Mate AU

"Ace!"

Sabo was on Mount Corvo and he was terrified. While he was a strong child, even he was nothing in the face of nature's true predators – storms. Dawn Island was usually out of the way of dangerous weather, but when it hit, it hit hard. The wind was blowing so strongly that all the trees on the mountain were bowing. Night on the island were already pretty dark – the thick clouds above made it nigh impossible to see his own fingers in front of his face. The only reason he was in the forest was because Grey Terminal had been flooded and while the other inhabitants of the trash heap retreated within the walls of Goa Kingdom, hiding in the lower section, he had sworn that he would never go back to that place. So now he was looking for Ace, his only friend – his _soulmate_ –, who had mentioned living with mountain bandits. They couldn't be too hard to find, right?

"Ace!" Sabo hollered again over the dull roar and howling of the gale, hoping that maybe his friend would hear him and help him.

Lightning cracked open the shadows of night, the accompanying thunder booming so loudly that Sabo felt it deep within his bones. He even raised his hands to press them to his ears, though that didn't stop him from hearing the painful sound. There was a crackling noise that followed and Sabo turned his gaze upwards to find the source. He couldn't even open his mouth to scream as one of the oversized trees of Mount Corvo toppled onto him.

* * *

"Whoa..." Ace whistled softly as he stepped out of the bandit's house. It must've rained hard with the storm because there was water up to his ankles. Not only that, but the forest looked absolutely wrecked, with trees capsized all over the place.

"Hey, don't let water into the house, you bast-"

Ace slammed the door shut behind himself, cutting off the beginning of Dadan's rant. He had his trusty pipe in his hands. He wanted to go check on Sabo and see how his makeshift home in the Grey Terminal had made out with the storm. So he set off, splashing through the water and kicking it up to scare the occasional frog that sat upon either tree roots that rose above the water or overturned trees themselves.

When he arrived at the edge of Grey Terminal, he was startled by the sight that greeted him. The people who lived in the trash heap were wading through waist-deep water. Ace jumped into the water, which was up to his chest, and held his arms up as he walked towards the closest person.  
"Hey!" he shouted to get the man's attention. "Have you seen Sabo?"  
The man shakes his head and wanders away. Ace asks three more people before someone finally gives him an answer.

"Yeah, I saw Sabo." This guy was just a lanky teenager, looking like the flood water had cleaned him more than he'd ever been clean in his life. "The rest of us headed into the kingdom when it began to flood, but he ran into the forest."  
It wasn't the answer Ace was hoping for, especially with the forest in the state it was, but it prevented him from searching all of the Grey Terminal for Sabo. So he turned and made his way back to the forest as quickly as he could when going through water and as soon as he reached it, he was diving into the thick of it.

"Sabo!" he called at the top of his lungs. "Sabo, where are you?"

There was no reply, and while Ace had been _hoping_ for one, he hadn't really been expecting one. Sabo was smart, even smarter than Ace, and he would've known to move to higher ground in case the flooding reached the forest, so Ace began heading up. He crawled under falling trees and jumped over the occasional deep puddle.

"Sabo!" Ace began yelling once he decided he was far enough up for Sabo to have decided it was safe.

He stopped when he saw something dark blue half-submerged in a shallow puddle. He ran over and pulled the thing out. It was Sabo's hat. Ace looked around wildly, but he couldn't see any sign of the blond.

"Sabo!" Ace's voice was tinted with concern now. "Hey, if you can hear me, say something!"

He took his time exploring every crook and cranny he could get his head in as he continued heading upwards.

* * *

Sabo came to to a headache that was so fierce that his eyes watered – well, the one he could open; the other was crusted shut with mud or blood. He could barely breath, water lapping at his face. His nose and throat hurt, so he must've already breathed in some water, but that pain and his headache were nothing compared to the ache in his whole body. He turned his head as much as he could, whimpering in agony, and could barely see past the bark of the tree that was crushing him into the ground. The only reason he wasn't crushed or dead was because a large boulder was right next to him, holding up part of the tree's weight.

"Sabo!"  
Sabo's head shot up at the call, though he immediately regretted moving so quickly as his whole body spasmed weakly with pain.

"A-Ace!" he choked out.

He was terrified that he wouldn't be loud enough to be heard, but fast footsteps approached and a familiar freckled boy appeared.

"Sabo!"

Ace ran up to him and dropped onto his knees. He grabbed Sabo's wrist and shifted his weight.

"No, wait-!"  
Ace pulled with all his strength, but almost dropped Sabo when the blond screamed.

"Sorry, sorry," he hissed. "Just hang on!"

He pulled harder and Sabo thought he was going to be torn in half, but then he popped free and both boys were sent sprawling into the soaking grass.

"Sabo, are you alright?"

Ace nearly jumped when Sabo burst into tears, sobbing as he clung to Ace with all his strength – which was a lot, but nothing Ace couldn't handle.

"I thought I was going to die!"

Ace's opinion towards crybabies was that they were weak and stupid, but no thoughts of the sort rose in his mind as he wrapped his arms around Sabo.

"I won't ever let you die, Sabo."

Sabo looked up at Ace and the brunet pushed the top hat onto his blond curls with a smile.

"Come on, let's go find some food. Maybe we can get a fire started with some dry sticks."

Sabo sniffled and nodded. They got up and Ace held onto Sabo's hand tightly as they began heading back down the mountain.


	44. Harrowing Inferno - Soul Mate AU

**(A/N: This connects to my Soul Mate AU for Sabo and Ace, taking place after _Filling the Void_.)**

* * *

Sabo still couldn't believe Koala wouldn't let him go after Ace.

"It's not that I don't believe you," she insisted with an off-expression that revealed that was partially the reason. "But Hack is still injured and we have to report our discovery and success in our mission."

Sabo reluctantly conceded to her decision and retreated to his room to scour his overflowing desk until he found a list of potentially useful Den Den Mushi contacts he'd collected in his free time over the past two years. That included the number for a certain First Division Commander of a late Yonko.

It took a lengthy amount of time to explain who he was to the new Whitebeard Pirate captain and even longer to convince him that he wouldn't have a reason to lie about Ace's resurrection. In the end, Marco agreed to give a visit to the island that his father figure and youngest brother – as well as other fallen allies – were buried.

 _At least Ace won't be stranded,_ Sabo thought, still a little miffed that he wasn't allowed to go himself.

* * *

Once they arrived at Baltigo and reported to Dragon, Sabo didn't try to set out and reunite with Ace. He had a feeling, deep within his soul, that Ace was no longer where he had been during the dream sequence. So, to distract himself until any information about Ace surfaced, Sabo used every spare moment he had to work on controlling his Devil Fruit ability. He gained further incentive when he had his first panic attack.

Sabo never had a reason to fear fire. Ever since the Revolutionaries saved him, he had a slight discomforting feeling around flames, but never anything more. With the return of his memories about his childhood, however, he also remembered the explosion that took away his memories of his brothers and almost killed him. It was an incident that should've left him as a traumatized child, but he hadn't recalled that event at the time.

That didn't mean he had outright pyrophobia now that he remembered what had happened. He could practice with the Mera Mera no Mi ability and only feel the slight unease he had since he was ten. But one day, while he was catching up on paperwork, he was startled by Inazuma, who had come to collect him for lunch, since he'd been working all morning. He jolted at his friend's voice and flames erupted from his shoulders, causing Inazuma to back away, but Sabo hardly noticed. His chest felt painfully right, making it difficult to breathe, and despite the flames' small size (they seemed to get even smaller as less air made it to Sabo's lungs*), the flow out of the corner of Sabo's eye* still brought him back to the little fishing boat he'd desperately tried to save before everything went to Hell with a second explosion.

When Sabo came back to himself, he was slumped on the floor against his desk with Ivankov gripping his biceps firmly and speaking to him in a low, soothing voice, as if coaxing a wild animal.

"It's okay, Sabo. Just keep breathing like that."

Sabo realized he was mimicking Iva's breathing pattern. At the same time, he noticed that the tips of the okama's gloves were singed. The same could be said for the side of the desk he was leaning against, the papers scattered on the floor, and the edges of Inazuma's sleeves (the Choki Choki no Mi user was standing by the door).

"I'm... I'm sorry," he croaked, glancing over at Inazuma, who waved off the apology.

"Here, let's get vyou up," Iva said, standing and helping Sabo to his feet.

He felt drained as he allowed his friends to usher him to his bed. He slept deep into the evening hours before hunger drove him to the kitchen, just in time to catch dinner with a relived Koala.

"I'm glad you're okay," she told him as he prepared to depart for his room again afterwards.

Once back at his desk, he finished his paperwork, though eh had to rewrite all the burnt reports.

 _What a pain,_ he complained to himself as he set the finished stack aside.

At this point, the sun was already below the horizon and he wasn't tired, so he pulled out the journal of adventures he'd began when he joined the revolutionaries and settled down to record the details of Dressrosa's events. Sabo was sure that his previous incident would be the worst he would have to deal with until he got his new ability under control.

Except he forgot about the nightmares.

With the return of his memories came the formation of nightmares that often woke him in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat and breathing heavily. Of course, the boat explosion made up some of them, but there was also a few about being back at Goa Kingdom, never escaping the high-walled confines, or of going to Grey Terminal after the fire and finding his brothers' charred corpses. The worst of them involved the deaths of Ace and Luffy, leaving him with a crushing sense of guilt and worthlessness.

It was at the peak of one of those nightmares that Sabo woke in the center of an inferno that engulfed his whole room. He could hear Koala yelling to him from outside his door. It didn't take long to realize he was unconsciously fueling the flames in response to his dreadful dream and even less time to work on extinguishing the fire. Afterwards, he accompanied Koala to the infirmary, apologizing profusely for her burned hand (gained when she attempted to open his door and found the doorknob to be blistering hot).

* * *

Over the next week, Sabo found his patience tired time and time again. Between losing sleep due to fear of burning down the base because of nightmares and the unwillingness of his flames to be tamed, he was beginning to wish for a simpler ability or to not have one at all (though he quickly took those thoughts back afterwards because his consumption of the Devil Fruit had brought his soulmate and brother back from the dead).

One day, his flames were acting strange. They flickered as he trained, always bowing in the same direction, as if being drawn to something or blown by a wind that wasn't there. There was a cacophony of noise coming from the base, but he would've been contacted if he was needed. Normally, even then, he'd go investigate, if only to sate his curiosity, but the fire was behaving abnormally well and he wanted to take advantage of that. He could feel eyes on him, but he brushed it off as Koala; she was becoming increasingly concerned about him training to death recently.

Someone began to approach, someone not hostile or exuding ill-will towards him (as far as he could tell with his haki); someone unfamiliar...yet not. There was a sort of pull from within his soul and his flames flickered once again, in the direction of the person approaching, and Sabo just knew.

He turned, apprehension and excitement boiling together in his mind and bringing a large grin to his face.

"Ace!"

* * *

(*oxygen = fire

*I'm all for the "Sabo is blind in his left eye" headcanon)


	45. Dressrosa Colosseum - Barto x Gambia

**(A/N: Well, I didn't think it was possible for me to pair Bartolomeo with anyone but Cavendish thanks to all the fanart, but then I met Gambia and I just couldn't help myself... Am I the first one to ship these two? I don't know, but let me know what you think anyway. _Spoilers!_ For Dressrosa, but nothing major, just for episodes 634 and 635.)**

* * *

"Oi, Gambia, where are you going?"

The blond staff officer of the Barto Club stopped, turning slightly to his captain, who was reclining against a wall and picking his nose with his pinky while ignoring the other fighters who were betting on who would win in Block A's battle royal.

"Out for a walk," Gambia replied with a grin. "My block of fighters isn't going to be called out for a while."

Bartolomeo grunted, then waved his free hand dismissively. "Yeah, okay. Just don't get disqualified."

Gambia laughed loudly and said before leaving, "Don't worry about me, captain."

* * *

The corridors of the Corrida Colosseum were empty and quiet, so it was quite easy to overhear the voice (or voices?) coming from the dressing room.

 _"'Pirate Mercenary' Hajrudin! Cavendish! And 'The Missionary' Gambia?!"_ one voice was listing off in growing worry before abruptly falling silent.

"Yeah, there are a bunch of bad eggs," the second voice agreed after a moment as Gambia took his time approaching the room.

 _"It's gonna be big trouble if one of these guys wins the Mera Mera no Mi!"_

"I was surprised about Burgess, too."

 _"I'll talk to Issho-san right away."_

"Okay."

By this point, Gambia was at the doorway, so he decided to announce his presence.

"Oi, oi!" he called. "Young man, are you talking to yourself?"

He peered around the edge of the doorway, grinning. There only appeared to be one man there, but Gambia could've sworn he heard two different voices.

The main in the room wrote something down on the clipboard in his hand, seemingly ignoring his visitor, who decided to continue speaking.

"You were talking to somebody out there, weren't you?" he asked, leaning against the wall and pointing at the man. "You're fishy," he added bluntly, then snickered.

The man finally looked at him, scowling. _Progress,_ Gambia decided.

Undeterred, he wandered closer, purposely getting in the man's personal space. "Am I right? Am I right?" He eyed the clipboard. "What's that note?"

Dark and broody shifted away slightly, adjusting his cape.

"You were whispering those cool guys' name." He couldn't help but brag, "'The Missionary' Gambia. That's..." He pointed to himself. "...me!"

The man wasn't even looking at him anymore.

"What are you up to?"

No reply.

"You can't say?!" he cackled, then his smile dimmed slightly as his tone took a more serious note. "Don't tell me you're a Navy soldier..."

The man moved so suddenly that Gambia didn't have time to react as a hand was clamped firmly over his mouth and something cold and sharp dug into his throat, enough to make rivulets of blood drop towards his collarbone. He was left with the man positioned behind him and a Den Den Mushi sitting on the previously occupied crate in front of him.

 _"Are you all right, sir? Please respond."_

That was the first voice Gambia had heard while traveling down the hall, the source on the other side of the Snail.

"Everything's fine," the man behind him stated calmly. "I'll call you back in ten minutes."

 _"Roger that."_

Then the Snail fell asleep with a dull 'clank'.

Now that the Navy soldier's full attention was on him, Gambia struggled not to move, eyes flickering from the man's face to his hand and the blade that sat below it.

"You don't wanna put your nose in any further," the marine warned.

"I won't!" Gambia tried to say, voice muffled.

"'The Missionary' Gambia." The voice dipped into something more threatening. "Go away."

The staff officer narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the man. In that moment, he was unsure if he was going to be released or killed, and he didn't want to stick around and find out. Besides, he had to find his captain and warn him that the Navy was around. So he elbowed the marine once one of the handle's of his nun-chuck was in his hand, then swung his weapon up to strike the man across the face. A hit to the gut and another face-strike in followed in rapid succession before Gambia sent the man flying into a couple of boxes as he turned on his heel to flee.

"That bastard!" he heard behind him.

He turned his head in time to witness the marine swinging his axe towards him, then everything was a blur.

* * *

On the edge of consciousness, Gambia registered the voice of the marine he just lost to.

"This is Maynard." He was obviously talking through the Den Den Mushi again. There was the sound of running water in the background of his voice. "Excuse me for hanging up earlier. Everything is okay here."

The water shut off and he heard Maynard's footsteps walking past him.

"Oh, and earlier, I mentioned a name – 'The Missionary' Gambia who works under Bartolomeo. But you can cross it out. It wasn't him I saw after all."

Gambia couldn't move, even as dull anger rose to the surface of his mind, and though he desperately wanted to beat up that marine or at least flip him the bird, he couldn't do more than weakly utter, "D-damn! That Navy soldier..."

Then he passed out.

* * *

"I'll keep going on with the plan here, too."

Bartolomeo stepped out of the shadows as the Navy soldier disappeared down the corridor. A feral grin sat on his lips as his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Then he turned and entered the room that the marine had left, grin fading as he took in the beaten form of his staff officer laying across bags of trash.

"Oi," he called.

No response came from Gambia, meaning he was unconscious or... An unhappy noise escaped Bartolomeo's throat. He approached his subordinate's body, crouching next to it and jabbing two fingers against his throat, searching for a pulse. When he found it, he relaxed slightly. The medical room wasn't too far from where they currently were and the Block A battle royal had just ended, so he could sneak Gambia in amongst those injured fighters.

Deciding to go with that plan, Bartolomeo grabbed one of Gambia's arms and draped it over his shoulders, standing and easily lifting the slim man with him. He needed to be quick about dropping his nakama off; he had some revenge to enact.

* * *

It didn't take long to catch up to the marine bastard, since he wasn't in a hurry despite just beating up a super rookie's crewmate. Bartolomeo followed silently behind until Maynard stopped and turned towards him, obviously having detected his presence. Bartolomeo kept a relaxed pose, hands in his pockets, as he took a few steps forward so the man could better see who he was dealing with.

"How could you do such a dirty thing, Navy _-san_?" he asked rhetorically, voice shaking slightly with anger he kept concealed. "You people sent in a rat to this competition to arrest all the wanted pirates, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Maynard kept a straight face despite his obvious (to Bartolomeo) lie.

Bartolomeo laughed. "You're good at playing dumb! But I can't just let you go after getting my dear subordinate beaten."

The marine glared. "I guess I'd better silence you, Bartolomeo."

"I can't believe how famous I became!" the pirate responded, serving to further anger the Navy soldier, who dropped into a fighting stance.

* * *

Honestly, Bartolomeo had expected more of a challenge from the marine hwo put his subordinate down for the count, but then again, having such a useful Devil Fruit came in handy.

"I can't believe this," Maynard rumbled, clutching his right side.

Barolomeo laughed, amused that his opponent thought he could win in the first place. "You're too weak and this is like a joke, Navy _-san_."

Maynard attempted to attack again and Bartolomeo pulled his hands out of his pockets, triggering his ability to finish it; after all, he had a battle royal to attend and an injured nakama to check up on.

* * *

"Competitors of Block B! Is Capman here? And Bartolomeo?"

Bartolomeo strolled down the corridor behind the Colosseum staff member, making his footsteps loud enough to hear.

"You're Bartolomeo, aren't you?" the man asked after turning to see him.

The pirate didn't bother to answer such a stupid question as he passed him.

"Block B's match will start soon!"

"Okay," Bartolomeo replied.

"And did you see a competitor named Capman?" was added, almost as an afterthought.

"I don't think so," came the answer with a slight laugh as the image of the marine, bloody and draped over trash where he belonged, came to Bartolomeo's mind.


	46. Zoro and Robin - Role Reversal

**((A/N: I used "utube" /watch?v=p7YT16SMyA8 to get some of the episode moments so I could write this. This is for Day 2 of Rare Pair Week (not a romantic entry this time) and it's an AU where Robin is the santoryuu user and Zoro has the Hana Hana no Mi ability. Sorry this is so rough; I just wanted to get the idea out of my system. I'll make a better one eventually. Enjoy anyway~))**

* * *

When Robin first joined the Straw Hats, Zoro couldn't help but be suspicious of her motives. She certainly wanted to kill them all when they first met, and now she expected them to shelter her? He wasn't happy about his captain's decision to let her stay, but he wasn't going to say anything against it. It wasn't his choice to make. Ignoring Sanji's loving croons towards the older woman, Zoro sulked his way up the stairs to lean on a railing around the galley. It wasn't long before Robin joined him. He watched suspiciously as she strolled by.

"This is a nice ship," she said. "Is it always as lively as this?" She turned to look at him as she asked her question.

He reluctantly turned his attention to her. "Yeah, this is it," he replied gruffly.

She smiled. "Oh?"

He watched in disbelief as she continued to the far railing. He was definitely not pouting.

 _This woman..._ he thought, eyeing the three swords strapped to her hip. (He practiced sword fighting with the kids in his home village.) _What's she plotting?_

* * *

Later in their voyage, searching for the South Bird as they were told to, Robin and Zoro were stuck together, with the Devil Fruit user following the not-directionally challenged architect through the dark forest. They paused as screams rang through the trees.

"Leave 'em," Zoro grunted when Robin pointed it out.

His gaze darted upwards and he clenched his fists. There was a crack, then a giant bug fell from the trees above, foaming at the mouth with its outer shell cracked where strong sprouted arms folded over and squeezed it.

Zoro lifted it by one of its antennae, his extra arms vanishing in a flurry of emerald petals. "A centipede," he noted with a slightly disgusted expression. "It's freakin' huge."

Robin rested her forearm on the hilts of her swords. "You really shouldn't go around killing everything we come across," she scolded. "The poor things," she added as he dropped the insect.

He glanced over at her, annoyed. "It's his fault for coming after me." He began to walk off and she called out to him.

"But..."

"What?" he groaned.

"That's the way we just came from."

* * *

Fighting against Kaku was increasingly difficult. No matter how quickly he sprouted arms on the giraffe man, the Devil Fruit user struck out with his blades just as swiftly, leaving Zoro on defense more than offense, trying not to get himself injured by cutting up his extra arms. He had Robin's blades sheathed at his hip, but they weren't his to use, so he didn't dare draw them. All the dodging was leading up to nothing but Zoro's eventual exhaustion, but then the image of Robin, screaming that she wanted to live came to his mind and he slid to a stop. He wasn't an expert swordsman – especially with the way he fumbled with lifting one of Robin's sword hilts to his mouth – but Robin had been teaching him ever since he let her know he practiced the art of swordsmanship as a child. If it was just one attack, he could do it.

"Santoryuu... Asura!"

* * *

Robin couldn't believe she was free. She lifted her hands, gazing upon where the seastone cuffs had been previously. Franky handed her her swords.

"Zoro-bro sent these ahead," he informed her.

She took her swords gratefully, feeling fully grounded, much like she had while around her...nakama. She turned to face the stunned marines as she slowly lifted a sword to her mouth.

* * *

Headed for Thriller Bark, the crew decided to relax and get to know their new ship: Thousand Sunny. Zoro lounged on the grass, hands clasped behind his head and extra arms swaying in the breeze, keeping Luffy and Chopper entertained. He heard soft footsteps, then the muffled clinking of swords before all was silent again (well, silent aside from the more rambunctious members of the crew). He opened one eye and glanced over at Robin. She glanced at him as well and they shared a small smile.

"Imagine, Zoro-san," Robin spoke, smooth voice mingling with the wind. "...if I were the Hana Hana no Mi user and you were the swordsman."

Zoro considered it, then snorted. "Yeah, right."

She just chuckled.


	47. Goodbye, Pirate King - Luffy x Coby

**(A/N: This one is for Day 3, Loss, of Rare Pair Week (and maybe a little for Day 4's Memories, too)! It's a Luffy x Coby fic (with maybe a hint of Helmeppo x Coby?), so enjoy! Set about ten years in the future.)**

* * *

Coby thought he wanted to be as strong as Luffy. After Alvida, Luffy had been his goal and his inspiration to get stronger. After becoming a Vice Admiral, Coby had set out to apprehend his friend, who had become Pirate King two years earlier. It was a game of cat and mouse, much like when Garp and Gol D. Roger were at the peak of the world. Except there was a deeper bond between the ex-cabin boy and the ex-Supernova. Being a good marine and chasing after Luffy was his dream! ...so when he finally caught him, why did he feel so bad...?

 ** _"Shishishi! You finally caught me!"_**

Coby winced as the memory flashed through his head. Luffy had been so happy for him, even though it led to the Pirate King being put in seastone cuffs and shipped off for Loguetown to become as much of a legacy as the Pirate King before him.

"Coby...?"

Helmeppo was standing behind him; he was standing at the railing of one of many marine ships attending the escort to Loguetown. Akainu didn't want to take any chances of the top of the Worst Generation getting away.

"We've arrived."

Those words just about crushed Coby's heart, but he didn't let it show – _tried_ not to let it show – as he followed his friend off of the ship. Ahead of him, in the middle of a thick throng of marines, was Luffy. He was beaming as he looked around the town, as if he wasn't being marched to his death, and he even waved with his shackled hands to little kids who gathered to watch the proceedings curiously. Coby wished that Luffy would react how he was supposed to – get mad, scream, cry, _anything!_...but Coby wasn't sure if he could've handled that, either. Luffy, while peering through a few marines off to the side, suddenly looked over his shoulder at Coby and his grin seemed to grow even wider. Even though he was almost thirty, Luffy had hardly changed; he was just a little taller and wider. Coby couldn't meet Luffy's eyes, but that didn't matter as the death march finally reached the execution platform.

Coby felt a sudden urge to rush over, to take down the marines surrounding his friend, at least enough to buy time to free Luffy, but a heavy gloved hand landed on his shoulder; the scent of smoke permeated the air.

"Don't make any hasty decisions."

Then the hand was gone, and when Coby turned to look, no one was there.

"Coby, come on," Helmeppo hissed, and Coby hurried into place. He didn't want Akainu to target him for being distracted.

Luffy was being settled on his knees at the edge of the platform and people from town were streaming into the square to watch, as if it were some kind of show instead of a sick spectacle.

"Hey, Pirate King!" someone shouted. "Did you hide One Piece like Roger did?"

A loud murmur rose in the crowd, made louder still by Coby's Observation Haki.

 _"I can't believe he was caught."_

 _"Mommy, are they gonna kill him with those big swords?"_

 _"There are so many marines... Is he that dangerous?"_

Coby felt like he was in Marineford again. He wanted to curl up and cover his ears and cry. Only Helmeppo's comforting hand on his wrist kept him from falling apart. The executioners were in place, swords raised. They had wasted no time; Luffy wasn't dying from an incurable disease like the man who was executed before him, and his crew's whereabouts wasn't traceable, so there was no time to risk anything. Akainu, who stood to the side, nodded, and the blades gleamed as they swung through the air. It was a nice, warm, sunny day; it shouldn't have been an execution day. As the blades scraped softly together, inches away from Luffy's neck – Luffy, who was still smiling, lips parting to deliver his final message – Coby closed his eyes.

"One Piece is mine!"

 _Shlop._

* * *

 **(A/N: In case it wasn't obvious, the 'shlop' was the sound of sword slicing through skin.)**


	48. Halloween Day Special: Hawkins' Past

**Closed Doors: What's behind the door? Why is it closed?**

 _ **((A/N: This can be taken as part of the original OP universe or maybe part of the past of modern AU Hawkins. Your choice. Happy Halloween, everyone!))**_

* * *

Hawkins preferred to be fully immersed in his tarot cards when he used them. He wasn't very good at reading them yet, but he was determined to master the skill sooner rather than later. He often lost track of time when he did this particular activity, so when a loud clatter sounded over his head and he re-emerged into reality, it was rather late and the only light in the kitchen where he was were the candles lit on top of the table he sat at. His mother wasn't home yet, so the noise could only have come from his estranged father.

Hawkins' father had always been a distant figure, becoming even more so as the blond child grew older. The eight year old liked to pretend that he didn't noticed that both of his parents had dark hair. As he sat his cards down and slid out of his chair to investigate, Hawkins pondered the source of the sound. As he traveled up the staircase, he concluded that it came from his father's office. He was never allowed in that room for some reason, but having a lack of curiosity for such boring mysteries – there likely was only a desk and chair in that room – Hawkins never attempted to break that rule.

Reaching the top of the stairs and immediately heading to the door of the office, Hawkins could hear a slight creaking coming from the general height of the ceiling. Stopping in front of the door, the child placed his hands on the chilled wood. Rising on his toes and leaning in, one maroon eye slid shut as he peered through the keyhole.

Dark pants and shoes came into view, swaying slowly in front of the door. Partially out of sight on the floor laid the chair to the desk at the back of the room.

Hawkins watched the body swing for a moment before backing away from the door. He slowly turned around and journeyed back downstairs to the kitchen. Climbing back into his seat, he looked down at his tarot cards, in the middle of which a ghastly skeleton in black robes beneath the Roman _XIII_ stared back.

He was still gazing at Death when his mother bustled in. She swept in like a breath of fresh air, sweeping his hair from his forehead to give him a loving kiss before depositing dinner from a nearby restaurant on the table.

"I'll go get your father," she said. "Please clean up you cards."

He moved almost mechanically, gathering up his tarot cards, with Death on top, as his mother went up the stairs. He stored his cards in his pockets and didn't react as his mother's scream pierced the night.


	49. Shanks x Marco, Christmas Themes - Day 1

**Christmas Themes: December 2016**

 _ **Day 1: First impression/meeting**_

* * *

"For the last time, Ace," Marco sighed as he adjusted his coat, "we're not buying Pops alcohol. He already drinks to much despite the nurses' warnings. He doesn't need encouragement."

The blond didn't add that he was fairly certain that Thatch was already planning on restocking the cabinets with enough sake to down a giant. Ace whined and grumbled as they walked through the store, but eventually a food stand caught his attention and he was gone. Marco was glad; now he could finish Christmas shopping for his youngest brother without having him see. He made his escape quickly.

Once Marco was sure that he was far enough away that Ace wouldn't find him immediately, he actually started looking around. Izou had suggested the store, and he usually had good intuition when it came to shopping.

"Dahaha! Be careful!"

Marco paused at the loud voice and found the source not long after. There was a pen set up full of puppies. Amongst the animals were a handful of teenagers, a dozen small children, and one full-grown man. The man had vibrant red hair and three scars over his left eye. Puppies were curled up against him, draped over his lap, and one was latched onto his fingers. He laughed again and happened to lift his gaze in time to catch Marco watching. The redhead blinked, looking surprised, then beamed radiantly. It seemed he was an exceptionally friendly person...and Marco was not, so he continued walking.

"Hey, wait! I- Ugh, so many dogs..."

Marco's lips twitched into the start of an amused smile, but he didn't stop.

* * *

"Marco!"

Ah, it seemed that Ace had finally found him. Marco had already bought the freckled boy's last gifts and paid extra to have them delivered home. Now he was sipping a paper cup of coffee in the middle of the store's food court. He stood from the bench he'd been sitting on and the younger man was suddenly in front of him. But he wasn't alone. With him were Luffy, his "baby" brother, a blond that Marco guessed was Sabo*, and a familiar redhead.

"Marco, how could you abandon me like that?" Ace demanded to know with a pout, then switching gears before his brother could answer sarcastically. "You already met Lu-"

"Hi, pineapple head!" the straw hatted boy greeted happily.

"-but this is Sabo," he continued, wrapping an arm around the other blond's shoulders, "and Luffy's previous guardian, Shanks."

"The man from the puppy pen," Marco added flatly, gaze grazing over the empty sleeve pinned on the redhead's left side before meeting his eyes for the second time.

"Yep!" Shanks agreed with a laugh before offering his remaining hand. "Akagami no Shanks."

Marco gave a small smile as he shook the proffered hand.

"Marco Newgate."

* * *

 **(A/N: *Sabo is a very busy person; Marco has heard stories about him, but never met him officially until now.)**


	50. MarcoAce Week Day 1 - Freedom

_**Day 1: Freedom**_

"Land-ho!"

Thatch's playful call caught the attention of everyone in the Moby Dick's deck. Everyone was excited to get on the island and stretch their legs; it had been about a week since Ace's hundredth – and final – attempt on Whitebeard'slife (thirty-eight of which ended up with him tumbling overboard, followed by a non-Devil Fruit user, usually Thatch), and only a couple days since his official welcome to the crew. Ever since then, he'd joined forces with Haruta and Thatch and was causing havoc by pranking anyone who happened to be unlucky enough to catch their attention. If Marco got one more complaint about the mischievous trio (Why were they whining to him and not Oyaji?), he was going to toss all three of them into the ocean to act as Seaking bait. But that was just one reason everyone wanted off the ship; they also wanted to restock supplies, drink freely in bars, and buy some personal items.

"Marco, come here."

At his captain's voice, the First Division Commander dropped down from the mast he'd been seated upon to watch the island as they approached. Blue flame burst out around his ankles and laced up his calves for a moment before dispersing, leaving his bones undamaged. He walked over to where Whitebeard sat, Ace settled on his leg (his new favorite spot, apparently).

"I want you to take Ace with you on the island," the Yonko stated, releasing a rumbling laugh when Marco briefly closed his eyes and sighed – a habit of his when he was exasperated.

* * *

The island they were docking at happened to be pirate-friendly. The people greeted the Whitebeard pirates with smiles and colorful gifts. Marco wasn't quite sure about what to do with his own – an orange hat that he certainly wouldn't wear – and was amused by how conflicted Ace seemed; he'd gotten another red-beaded necklace, though this one had two wooden tokens threaded up with it, one with a smiling face and the other frowning.

"Let me see that, yoi," Marco said.

Ace passed the necklace over with a confused frown. Marco looped the necklace around the crown of the hat, where a band would normally be, and tossed the hat to Ace, who caught with with a little fumbling. The fire user examined that hat, then beamed.

"Thanks, Marco!"

For the rest of the day, as they explored the island's little town (which showed signs of damage, likely from less-than-friendly pirates), Ace proudly wore his new hat and let anyone who asked know that it was a gift from Marco. When they took a break for food, Marco finished first and got up, aware of Ace watching him with a bone poking out of his mouth. The older male pulled a small pouch of belis out of his pocket and set it on the table.

"This is your share for today, yoi," he explained. "Once you sue it up, that's it for this island. I'm going to go talk to Oyaji, so I'm trusting you to not give the locals a reason to ban you from the island."

Ace nodded eagerly and Marco left a few extra belis to pay for their meals before turning to go look for his – no, _their_ – captain.

"Ah, wait, Marco!"

He glanced back at his newest brother, who quickly swallowed all the food in his mouth.

"Did we happen to pass a tattoo parlor?"

Marco's lips quirked into a slight smile. "Yeah, about two streets from here."  
When Ace returned to the ship later, proudly displayed his new tattoo of Whitebeard's Jolly Roger, Marco couldn't help but feel like Ace had finally found the freedom from whatever burden had previously weighed down his soul – or, was beginning to find it.


	51. MarcoAce Week Day 2 - Hobbies

_**Day 2: Hobbies**_

* * *

Ace was draped over a side railing, eyes locked on the writhing ocean and sea foam being churned below. The fire user was clearly bored and everyone on the Moby Dick knew that was a foreshadowing of mischief to come. No one wanted to deal with that on such a nice day, but no one wanted to go entertain the sometimes difficult to impress pirate. Eventually all of the Commanders voted for Marco to be the one to do something before it was too late. The Phoenix complained for a moment – he'd been snagged while he was going below deck to catch up on some sleep – but gave into the pleading of his brothers in the end, brushing them off with an exasperated sigh, briefly closing his eyes before heading over to where the "youngest" sat.

* * *

"Ace."

Blinking himself out of the bored daze he'd sunken into, Ace looked up to see Marco leaning against the railing next to him. The blond gestured for Ace to stand and as he did, the recently appointed Second Division Commander wondered if he was in trouble for something again.

"I was going to go for a flight," Marco explained once he had Ace's full attention. "I was wondering if you'd keep me company."

Gunmetal grey eyes widened. Ace had seen Marco's phoenix form, of course, but he hadn't known that it was possible – or warranted – to fly with him. Marco's lips curved into a smile as he took the surprised silence as a 'yes'.

Cerulean blue flames enveloped Marco as he changed. It never hurt, switching between forms; when his bones rearranged, they did so within seconds. He heard a rumour on the sea, once, that the larger the creature one's Zoan fruit gave them control over, the slower and less comfortable the change. Marco's phoenix side was not all that much larger than he was compared to, say, an ancient reptilian Zoan form might be. Sure, he could make his phoenix form larger once he was fully shifted, but that was mostly "puffing up his feathers," as Thatch so eloquently put it when explaining it to some newcomers before Ace, than actually growing larger.

Once his flames had settled and talons clicked against the deck instead of sandals, Marco lowered himself with practiced ease as a wordless invitation for Ace to climb onto his back. Out of the corner of his eye, Marco saw the other Commanders watching, some with smiles and others (*cough*Haruta*couch*) with envy.

"B-but I wanna go," Haruta finally whined when Ace was properly seated and Marco rose, wings stretching out with a flicker of flames.

 _"Sorry, Haruta,"_ Marco replied, amused when Ace jolted a little on his back. _"I can only carry one passenger at a time."*_

That was actually a lie, as Marco had flown before with Haruta, Thatch, _and_ Izou before, but he considered it payback for Haruta not taking his side when he wanted to sleep instead of play around with Ace. Before anymore complaints could be voiced, Marco flapped his wings once, twice, and was in the air. Ace's fingers clutched tightly onto his feathers – they were all flames, but his downy feathers were more solid and feather-like than the rest – until they stopped ascending and were soaring over the ocean alongside a small flock of seagulls that cawed a greeting. As Ace relaxed, bit by bit, his grip loosened and Marco gave a playful bob that gave the freckled boy a reason to reclaim his stable hold again. A deep hum resonated in Marco's chest, his form of a laugh at the moment, and Ace seemed to realize that as he audibly huffed.

"Very funny."

The duo flew for a majority of the day, sleep as far from Marco's mind as boredom was from Ace's. Ace asked the occasional question as they crossed the ocean, returning to fly over the Moby Dick every once in a while before arching out to the other side.

( _"Why are your feathers blue and yellow?"_

 _"They're only blue. The sun reflecting on my fire makes it look yellow. Only my beak and tails* are gold.")_

 _("Your wings are your arms, right? Do they still fee like arms, or do they register as wings in your brain when you're like this?"_

 _Cue exasperated eye closing and sigh.)_

By the time they returned, the sun was setting and half of the Commanders had retired to bed to prepare for early departures to check on their Divisions, Haruta included. Izou and Thatch were sitting with Whitebeard as Marco dove towards the deck. Ace slid off, landing on his feet, while the flames burst and disappeared* as Marco landed in the same manner.

"Gurarara. Did you have fun?" Whitebeard asked as Ace jogged over, offering the Mera Mera no Mi user a hand up to his leg.

"It was amazing!" Ace exclaimed. "You can see forever from up there! The sunset was much nicer from up there than on the ship."

As Ace continued to explain his flying experience, Marco wished them a goodnight, the earlier fatigue returning to him, but he had to admit, it felt good to stretch his wings like that. He didn't often get a chance to just fly around for hours at a time, not in the middle of a fight or heading out to his Division for work. It was also nice to spend time with the ever busy or trouble-causing Ace. He decided they would have to go out on another flight soon as he descended below deck.

* * *

 **(A/N: *Honestly? I don't know if Marco can speak in his phoenix form. Every time he's been in his phoenix form in the series so far, he's been fighting, and he hasn't said a word, so I assume that if he could, it would be something similar to telepathy, since phoenix are magical creatures and all. Got your own theories? Lay 'em on me!**

 ****Also, what am I supposed to call those ringlet thingies? I'm pretty sure they're his tail(s), though, so I'm going with that.**

 *****You remember that scene where he was facing Kizaru? The way he shifted from phoenix to winged human in a burst of flames? Yeah, that's what I was envisioning.)**


	52. MarcoAce Week Day 3 - Laugh

_**Day 3: Laugh**_

* * *

The first time Ace heard Marco laugh was when the Whitebeard pirates threw him a surprise birthday part. Ace almost choked on his food upon hearing it – Marco smiled, smirked, and chuckled, but he'd never outright laughed like he had when half of the Commanders crowded around him to give him hugs and attempt to convince him to open their gifts first (and now Ace knew why everyone was busy shopping at the last island; good thing he let Thatch talk him into buying some shiny bracelet). Thatch, who was sitting next to Ace, slapped Ace's back while Haruta leaned across the table.

"That's right, you've never heard him laugh," Haruta mused, smiling. "He doesn't do it often because he's our feather-brained momma bird."

Ace snorted. "I'm sure it's not _that_ rare for Marco to laugh..."

Thatch scoffed. "Then you don't know Marco as well as you think."

"I know him well enough!" the first user retorted heatedly. In fact, he liked to think that he and Marco were getting along well and getting close.

Haruta's smile became sly. "Well enough to make him laugh for you?"

Thatch's grin mirrored Haruta's. "Prove it. Make Marco laugh sometime this week."

Ace swallowed thickly, suddenly unsure, but he never backed down from a challenge. "Fine."

"Good." Standing, the chef and Fourth Division Commander pulled a box out from under the table. "Come by my room later and I'll give you something to be able to prove you made Marco laugh."

* * *

Five days passed in a blur full of Ace's efforts to make Marco laugh. From jokes so lame they made Ace's tongue burn to friendly wrestling in an attempt to find hidden ticklish spots, the Mera Mera no Mi user didn't waste a single idea. Unfortunately, none of these ideas worked and Marco eventually got tired of his constant pleas for attention and told him to _"find someone else to bother"_. Ace was a little hurt by that, but he also understood. Maybe he shouldn't have resorted to pranks in the end. Now it was the night of the sixth day and in the morning, Ace would have to admit his failure to Thatch and Haruta.

Sighing heavily, Ace flopped down onto the empty deck – everyone else was asleep, except Jozu, who was keeping watch – and stuffed a hand into his pocket, running his fingers over the Tone Dial that was given to him by Thatch.

 _"Just click this part up here,"_ the chef had explained, _"and it'll start recording."_

So much for that. Ace threw his free arm over his eyes.

The sound of sandals tapping the deck and a soft, "Ace," right next to Ace's ear made him jolt, arm thudding onto the deck as he looked up into turquoise eyes. Marco had his hands shoved into his pockets and he was leaning slightly to be able to look down at Ace's face. He had his normal indifferent expression on, but there was a hint of something there – concern?

"What are you doing up, yoi?" Before Ace could answer, Marco sighed and looked away as he straightened. "It's not because I told you off, it is?"

 _...eh?_

"Because I wasn't angry, I was just busy, and..."

It wasn't like Marco to fumble with his words or speak with such an unsure tone. Ace's mind scrambled for a reply as the realization that Marco thought that Ace was upset with him set in.

"No! No, I, uh... I was just stargazing."

Marco looked briefly relieved, then his expression cleared.

"Ah. Can I join you?"

Ace grinned slightly and patted the spot beside him. "Plenty of room."

Marco settled down, sitting beside Ace with his leg brushing Ace's side. Marco's gaze lifted to the sky and Ace decided he could get used to seeing Marco so open and relaxed. Not that he didn't try to be every day, but Ace could see the small amount of stress that weighed down his shoulders from being the person everyone looked up to besides Whitebeard.

"I have a little brother," Ace blurted out suddenly. "I had two, actually, but one of them... One of them left when we were just kids."  
Marco's gaze returned to him and Ace felt the words flowing out without hesitation. He told Marco about meeting Sabo and their hard work put into the pirate fund; meeting Luffy and _hating_ him so much, but then bonding with him and Sabo as brothers; and about the adventures they'd had since then.

"Luffy and Sabo... They'll always be my brothers, you know? But..." Ace raised a hand to scratch at his cheek sheepishly. "...I don't mind having you – and the others – as brothers, either..."

Marco laughed then; it was soft, unlike the delighted laugh he'd shared with the others, but it held an affection for Ace that he hadn't received since he left Luffy.

"I don't mind having you as a brother, either, Ace."

Ace felt his heart swell as Marco ruffled his hair and ordered him to get down to bed. There were very few times in his life when he had felt more content.

The next day, when Thatch asked if he got Marco to laugh while they were sitting in the crow's nest and watching Marco brush Haruta's hair under Izou's watchful eye, Ace just smiled and shook his head, passing back the Tone Dial. He could've recorded the melodic laugh that didn't seem anything but perfectly suited for Marco, but it was something he wanted for himself. Marco looked up at that moment and raised a brow when his eyes met Ace's, but Ace merely grinned back. A smile broke across the First Division Commander's face in return before he returned to Haruta's hair with some scolding from Izou.


	53. SaboAce Week: Day 1

**((A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I updated this compilation of One-Shots. Not to worry, though, because today marks the first day of SaboAce Week and I'm hella excited. I hope you guys are, too! So, this first of seven parts is related to my Eye Contact AU I posted forever ago. I hope you guys enjoy!))**

* * *

 _ **Day 1: First Impression/Beginnings**_

* * *

 _Why is he so annoying?_ Ace thought grumpily as he stomped through Mount Corvo's undergrowth with a well-dressed, blond four year old right on his heels.

This had been going on since the day they'd first encountered each other and gained the "blessing" of seeing colours. (Personally, Ace wouldn't have minded not having colours again it if got rid of the brat behind who just _wouldn't shut up_.) Every attempt to outrun the boy had ended in failure and on the rare occasion that he _did_ lose him, it only took a few hours to a couple days for their unfortunate reuniting to occur. And the kid acted like he didn't notice Ace's almost-desperate attempts to get rid of him!

"Would you just beat it?" Ace finally snapped, spinning to face his shadow, who almost bumped into him. "Go away. You're scaring off all the animals I could be eating right now!"

Both boys' stomachs growled at the mention of eating, but they ignored the noise.

"But we're soulmates!" the younger boy protested.

"I don't care!" Ace stubbornly pretended not to notice the hurt expression those words caused, or the twinge in his chest. "Stop following me or I'll beat you up!"

Then he turned around sharply and stalked away, feeling muted satisfaction when he didn't hear irritatingly clumsy footfalls behind him.

* * *

Sabo felt his lips tug down as he watched his other half leave. It wasn't until he could no longer hear or see him that he let a full frown form on his face. His situation was an absolute disaster! He had been so happy to find the one person he was meant to be with at an early age. He thought it would take some time to warm up to each other, but it was like Ace (it'd taken a decent amount of pestering to get his name) didn't even want a soulmate and didn't care, just like his parents didn't care, about him. No one cared about him and that sobering thought made his eyes sting with the threat of oncoming tears.

…

But no, Sabo refused to cry. He stubbornly glared at the sky, blinking back the moistness gathering until his eyes were relatively dry again. Ace was all alone out there on Mount Corvo, and seemed to have been alone for a long time, and Sabo was all alone, despite being surrounded by people back in Grey Terminal. Ace had to be feeling just as lonely as him, even if he refused to show it. So he wouldn't give up. He would be the best soulmate ever! Ace would never have to feel alone again.

"Hey! Ace!" he shouted, charging up the mountain in the direction the brunet had gone. "Wait up!"

* * *

 _I thought I got rid of him,_ Ace thought, eye twitching.

It took a week for Sabo to track him down, so Ace thought he'd been safely out of reach, and now the blond was, one again, following him like a lost puppy, though a lot more quietly than before. It was a small blessing, but not enough of one to change Ace's mind about him. So he went back to his attempts to lose him, usually when it began to get dark. That turned out to be a bad idea for multiple reasons, but none more so than when in the cover of night, Sabo actually managed to sneak up on Ace. His cold hand on Ace's arm startled the freckled boy and his shadow earned a well-aimed pipe to the face.

A loud wail of pain poured from Sabo's mouth, and Ace swore he could see the beady eyes of hungry predators in the distance, so he crouched and slapped a hand over the noisy boy's mouth. It took until Ace was sure they were alone to realize his hand was wet with something warm while Sabo made soft, muffled noises and his shoulders shook. He pulled his hand back with a disgusted noise – the asshole licked him! – and was fully prepared to yell when he realized that Sabo was sobbing quietly, not laughing like he previously thought. In the few rays of moonlight that made it through the thick leaves above, he saw that his palm and Sabo's lips were dark red.

Ace had seen blood before plenty of times, but never from another human being, and not in colour before. When it came from animals, it didn't bother him, because he usually was going to eat them. But he was floored with the sudden realization that humans could bleed as well. He was quite willing to beat up another human, he'd proved that to the bandits plenty of times, but a pipe to the skull would've only knocked them out, even with his unnatural strength. Had the pipe hit any higher or lower, he could have killed Sabo.

"Shit..." Ace whispered to himself, wiping his bloodied hand on the ground next to him and standing, pacing and muttering to himself. He could feel Sabo's eyes on him as the kid's sobbing died down and only the occasional sniffle escaped him. Ace growled and stomped over to the blond, holding out a hand and ignoring the constricting of his throat when Sabo flinched. "Come on," he prompted tightly. "I don't have all day."

Sabo sat up slowly, wiping his lips on the back of his hand as he used the other to grab Ace's. Ace pulled him to his feet and began to drag him further into the forest.

"Wh-where are we going?" Sabo asked, words slurring a little.

"To get water. Maybe there'll be some animals around there."

* * *

Sabo's face hurt, a lot, especially inside his mouth and around his lips. But Ace was holding his hand, _willingly_ , and was even hinting at feeding him. He felt bad for what he did, and that was more than Sabo could've hoped so soon after becoming determined to get Ace to accept that they were soulmates.

When they reached a small stream, Ace pushed him down next to a thick tree and tugged off his shirt, dipping it into the water.

"What are you-" Sabo began to ask, but was cut off when the wet shirt hit him, quite painfully, in the face.

When he pulled it off, he saw Ace was still standing by the river, arms crossed tightly and face turned away.

"Wipe your face," he ordered. "I'm going to see if I can find a bear or something."

Then he took up his pipe and disappeared. Sabo was afraid that he wouldn't come back, but if he wasn't back by morning, he'd just go looking. For now, he did as he was told and gently dabbed the wet clothe around his mouth, mindful of the areas that throbbed. When he was done, he crawled up to the stream and washed the blood off the shirt as best as he could before leaning down to drink. The cold water hit his gums and pained lanced through his face. He quickly spat it back out, and with the water came something white. It sunk in the water, likely drifting away, and it was took dark for him to try and find it. However, it didn't take a genius to know what he just dislodged and with a gently prod from his tongue, he confirmed his thoughts: he just lost a tooth. Prematurely, too, but it was still a baby tooth. It would grow back...hopefully.

By the time Ace got back, dragging along some kind of canine, Sabo was curled back up against the tree and dozing. He woke when he heard rocks clacking together, however, and saw Ace was starting a fire. Or, trying to, anyway. He quickly grew frustrated, but before he could throw the rocks away, Sabo got up and walked over, taking them from his hands.

"I can do this," he said happily, as if they hadn't been playing cat and mouse for almost two weeks and he hadn't almost had his face broken.

While he sparked the fire, Ace found a sharper rock and began skinning and gutting the animal, digging a hole afterwards and kicking the guts into it, but leaving the fur be.

"I can sell it," he explained with a shrug when he saw Sabo watching. "If I can find someone to sell it to."

Sabo finally got the fire started and Ace showed him how to cook the meat with more patience than thought possible. Though, Sabo was a quick learner.

 _Maybe he's not as much of a burden as I thought,_ Ace decided reluctantly as they dug into and finished the wolf meat in record time. _If I find another pipe and teach him how to fight, he can stick around. As long as he doesn't talk my ears off._ So, with bellies full and warmed by the fire, the boys settled down for the night, back to back on the ground.

* * *

Starting by dawn, with a armload of guilt brought about at seeing the dark purple bruise across Sabo's face and the missing tooth, Ace taught Sabo how to survive in the forest. By the time Sabo's fifth birthday rolled around, he knew how to fight properly enough to hold off Ace's impromptu training attacks and even impressed Ace by showing off the fact that he was stronger than the normal child as well. He could take out the abnormally large animals on Mount Corvo with ease, with a little help of Ace, and returned to the Grey Terminal to stake out someplace to sell his and Ace's impressive collection of animal furs. Ace voiced his desire to become a notorious pirate a week before his sixth birthday and his description of a life being free sparked Sabo's own dream of setting out to sea. They made a pact that they would become pirates together and set sail one day, buying their own ship and gathering a crew worthy of the sea and adventure.

"I'll be the captain," Ace decided as Sabo flipped through a book he'd snagged off a passing man when they went to sell furs that day. It was about sea charts and how to make them; he found it fascinating. "And you – you'll be my navigator," Ace added, peering over Sabo's shoulder at the book he had. They were sitting in the tree that held their slowly growing trove of treasure, shoulder to shoulder.

"You'll let me be on your crew?" Sabo asked, surprised.

He knew they'd set out together, but he'd thought Ace expected him to form his own pirate crew eventually.

"Of course," Ace huffed, looking away and crossing his arms. It was a habit of his when he got flustered or offended or was about to say something he thought was embarrassing. "We're... We're soulmates, after all."

The book slid from Sabo's hands and over the side of tree branch to the ground below, but he didn't care (he had a very good memory and had already scanned the book more than once). He gazed at Ace with wide eyes that were quickly growing watery. Ace had never brought up the fact that they were soulmates, and now he was voicing the fact that he accepted it and Sabo hadn't felt so happy since he gained the dream of being a pirate. His attempts to rid himself of tears – Ace hated crybabies – was foiled when Ace reached over and grabbed his hand tightly. Ace's hand was sweaty, showing he was more nervous than he let on, and Sabo couldn't stop the few tears that escaped as he gripped Ace's hand back.

"Of course. I-I'm your soulmate, and your future navigator," Sabo agreed with a wobbly voice and when Ace looked over and smiled, Sabo couldn't help but beam in return.

* * *

 **Omake:**

 _Sabo. **Sabo.**_ "Sabo _-kun_!"

Sabo snapped out of his slight reverie at Koala's voice, finding himself face to face with her. She looked mad, like she usually did when he spaced out when she was going over their mission objectives.

"Sorry," he coughed. "Continue."

She sighed, then frowned and pinched his cheeks. "Forget it. You're not going to listen anyway. Just don't space out when we get there, okay? This mission is important."

They were going to retrieve government documents that could help prove that the World Government was corrupt. It was vital that they succeeded without any unnecessary incidents.

"Yeah, got it," he mumbled as his face was stretched painfully.

Once Koala released him, she disappeared out the door to go to the upper deck. Sabo remained where he was, thinking hard. He didn't often space out, but it happened more when he was out at sea than on land. This time the memory _(?)_ was more clear than most of the ones he had before, but he was already forgetting the face of the boy he was with, and their conversations.

"Sabo _-kun_ , get up here!" Koala called.

"Coming," he replied, pushing off the wall he was leaning against.

He'd write down what he could remember later, when they returned to the base after the mission. Right now, his thoughts had to be firmly locked on what they were doing. Even if his heart was reaching for the memory with such a longing it was painful.

* * *

 **((A/N: Alright. So I figured that if Ace didn't like Luffy at all when they first met, why would it be any different with Sabo? And as for how Ace treated Sabo, I mean, he didn't even think it was good that he was born. How could he let himself hope that he was meant to be with someone when he was a "demon child"? I hope you guys enjoyed!))**


	54. SaboAce Week: Day 2

**((A/N: Aaaaand welcome to Day 2 of SaboAce Week. So I couldn't really work in today's prompt with my Eye Contact universe, without having these two lovable idiots not coming in contact with one another, so I decided a high school AU was just what I needed. Well, it started off as a high school AU, and ends as the beginning of a college AU? Well, whatever. Enjoy!))**

* * *

 _ **Day 2: Idiot/Genius**_

* * *

"Are you a complete idiot?"

Ace kept his arms crossed across his chest, gaze stubbornly set on the table he sat at while Dadan paced in front of him, his most recent progress report crinkling in her tightening fist.

"What am I supposed to tell your grandfather?" the large woman ranted hotly. "He's going to _murder me_ if your grades don't rise from failing to at least a 'C,' and I can't help you!"

Both Dadan and Ace involuntarily shuddered at the thought of Monkey D. Garp's "Fist o' Love" he bestowed upon those in his family. Dadan was, unfortunately, in her opinion (not really), in that group of people.

"I don't care what the old man thinks of my grade," Ace grumbled.

"This is your last year," Makino, who was sitting through the conversation (argument) to act as a mediator, reminded him gently. "You don't want to send Sabo off to college on his own, do you?"

Makino turned her head to the kitchen window. Ace followed her gaze to his childhood friend and classmate, who was roughhousing with Ace's younger brother, Luffy, in the front yard. Sabo's usually-pristine school uniform was stained with mud, as well as his pale skin, but he was smiling without a care in the world. Ace hadn't seen him so happy since they were children – ten year olds who were more concerned with having an adventure in the woods with their seven year old tag-along than school work. High school had really taken a toll on him. Or maybe it was Ace's grades. They had made a promise, as soon as they became freshmen, that they would stick together. They didn't have to worry about Luffy being alone, because he had Dadan, Makino, Garp, and all his weirdo friends around.

"You worked so hard to get into the same private school as him," Makino added.

She was right, of course. He'd even enlisted the help of his second family, mostly Marco, to get accepted into the school Sabo's father had sent him (and his step brother) to.

Ace sunk into his chair, a non-verbal sign that he was now open to any suggestions to help him...within reason.

"Why don't you ask Sabo for help?" Makino suggested. "He could tutor you in the areas you're having the most trouble with."

Ace sat up straight, opening his mouth to voice exactly why that was a _very bad idea_ (because he didn't want to look stupid in front of Sabo), only to get a wrinkled paper in his face by an irritated ex-criminal.

"He already knows about your failures," Dadan barked. "Now go talk to him so you don't flunk your senior year."

"I will," Ace agreed slowly. "...later."

Then he was out the kitchen door, shirt flung carelessly to the side as he joined two of his favorite people in a fight to become the Mud King. Dadan's irritated grumbling and Makino's amused giggles sat in the background.

* * *

The morning afterwards (Sabo stayed the night to clean his clothes and avoid his family), Ace told Sabo about his poor grades and silently requested his help. Sabo admitted to knowing about Ace's grades, that tidbit being the reason he wasn't quite as happy as before, and was more than willing to assist Ace with studying. With Sabo's help (the boy was a genius; why hadn't he skipped grades, exactly?), Ace's grades skyrocketed by the time graduation rolled around, and he was quite proud of himself for holding onto a 'B' average for the rest of the year.

"You two did it!" Makino exclaimed with her beautiful smile in place, drawing the two in after the graduation ceremony.

Luffy whooped along with her, his mouth stuffed full of fried chicken Dadan had allowed him to bring to keep him silent. Even Garp had attended, and he affectionately punched the two on the heads after Makino released them, then crushed them in his thick arms.

"I'm so proud," he said, beaming. "Now you two can come and be military men with me!"

"No way!" Sabo, Ace, and Luffy yelled as the former two struggled their way out of his grip.

"What are you two morons just standing around for?" Jewelry Bonney, one of their fellow graduates, huffed, hooking her arms in theirs before Garp could retaliate. "We're going out to party!"

She tilted her head towards Eustass Kidd's car, where Bartolomeo and Cavendish sat in the back arguing and Robin claimed the passenger seat.

"Luffy, there's gonna be food," she added before Ace and Sabo could protest about leaving their younger companion.

Luffy rocketed over to the car, leaping straight over Robin and into Kidd's lap. The red head let out a surprised shout and proceeded to attempt to strangle the squirmy boy. Ace and Sabo said hasty goodbyes to the three adults before and allowed Bonney to all but drag them to the car. The party was fun and full of sake. Sabo didn't touch any and kept Luffy from having more than one cup, and Ace moderated enough that he didn't need to be lugged home unconscious.

"I can't believe I made it," Ace sighed later as he fell back on his bed.

Sabo dropped a snoring Luffy onto the other bed in the brothers' shared room and flopped down next to Ace, grinning.

"Of course you did. I knew you would."

"Heh, not without you I wouldn't have."

Sabo snorted and crawled further onto the bed while Ace was content to stay where he was.

"So... It's off to college next, huh?"

Ace wasn't quite sure why, but the thought wasn't so exciting anymore.

"Don't worry," Sabo said, his face suddenly hovering over Ace's with a familiar twinkle in his eyes. "We'll have plenty adventures there, too."

Ace chuckled and closed his eyes as soft lips were pressed to his forehead. "Yeah, I'm sure we will."

* * *

 **((A/N: Can you tell that sometimes I don't fully plan out a story? *sweats nervously*))**


	55. SaboAce Week: Day 3

**((A/N: Essentially, Sabo was recovered by the Revolutionaries still, like in canon, but he was not permitted to join the Revolutionaries because Dragon did not want to drag a child into such a war against the world/World Government (Koala hasn't joined at this point; she joined after Sabo did). However, he agreed to drop Sabo off at Loguetown so he was as far from Dawn Island as possible without going into the Grandline. At the age of 18, Sabo decided to set sail for the Grandline to have an adventure. I swear it gets faster as it goes along.))**

* * *

 _ **Day 3: Sailing/Adventure**_

* * *

Sabo was grateful towards the Revolutionaries for many reasons, but none more than the fact that they saved his life and didn't make him go back to his parents. (He didn't remember them – in fact, everything before waking on the bed in Revolutionaries' ship was frustratingly blank – but the thought of returning to them made him feel extremely ill and anxious.) Though he was disappointed that they wouldn't let him join them, they brought him as far across the East Blue as they could before they had to depart for the Grandline. That landed him in Loguetown.

"Be careful," Inazuma said as she handed him a bag of food, belis, too-big clothes, and a couple blankets. "I hope we meet again soon."

"Thank you," he replied as he accepted the bag.

He got farewells from a lot of the Revolutionaries, including Ivankov, in female form, and the stoic Kuma. As they filed onto the ship, restocked and ready to set off once more, Dragon appeared next to Sabo with a soft gust of wind accompanying him.

"Here." He tossed Sabo a leather-bound journal with a quill pen and small bottle of ink attached. "You should make logs of your life from now on, in case you have more memory issues in the future."

Sabo hadn't even considered that and clutched the journal close.

"Thank you!" he called as Dragon boarded the ship and Revolutionaries on the deck waved.

"Let's meet again, Sabo-boy!" Iva shouted before the ship was out of sight.

"Yeah..." Sabo agreed quietly to himself. "One day..."

Now alone with no memories and only the items given to him by his short-term companions, Sabo turned to face Loguetown, his new home for the time being. Taking a deep breath of the air, which smelled like the ocean itself, and reaching up to adjust the patch one of the doctors on the ship had given him to conceal his facial scar and blind eye, Sabo approached the town.

* * *

During his first week in Loguetown, he learned of its history, including hearing from some old bartender that the Pirate King was born in the town and was executed in the town square. Something in Sabo resonated with the name of the Pirate King – Gold Roger, or _Gol D._ Roger, as most people didn't realize. (He got that tidbit of information from Dragon, whose full name was apparently Monkey D. Dragon. What the 'D' meant? He had no idea.) Sabo decided to sate his curiosity by going to the town square and scaling the execution platform. At the top, not out of breath in the least, Sabo surveyed the people milling about below. The sun was just setting on the horizon, bathing the ocean and rooftops in a beautiful golden glow.

"Hey! Get down from there!"

Sabo looked down to see men clad in marine uniforms marching up the stairs. Sabo ran for the edge of the platform and slid down the side as quickly as he had climbed up. Once he hit the ground, he ran away into one of the alleys nearby.

Since his first night, his sleeping hours were spent in the alcove in the wall of a decrepit house.

* * *

Growing up in Loguetown, Sabo usually managed to avoid having a boring day. He spent his time picking the pockets of wealthy visitors, teasing the marines stationed on the island, and watching the sunset from the execution platform before returning for the night in the old, abandoned house he's bunked in when he first arrived. Sometimes he played with other kids, but that was usually put to an end pretty quickly when their parents forbade them to go near him because he was a "bad influence." (Well, they weren't exactly wrong. He didn't lead a saintly lifestyle, after all.) He even got a few odd jobs every once in a while, including chasing troublemakers off from robbing shops and pirates terrorizing citizens when the marines couldn't handle it. For a long time he was one his own when it came to feeding and cleaning himself, and especially keeping up his strength by exercising and beating up thugs who underestimated him. That is, until he met Smoker.

He was fifteen when it happened. He'd just finished knocking a group of thugs unconscious; they had attempted to rob the bartender who had known the Pirate King when this white-haired marine approached.

"Did you do this?" he'd asked, sounding vaguely impressed.

Sabo tightened his grip on the pipe he'd chosen as his go-to weapon since he was ten. A blunette woman, another marine, came around the corner, cheeks flushed and three more marines behind her.

"Smoker _-san_..."

Whatever she was going to say obviously fled her mind at the sight of Sabo. She drew the sword sheathed at her side. This was the first time Sabo had ever seen her amongst the marines – same with...Smoker – but she seemed to know about him. He raised his pipe in response to her wordless challenge but before either could attack, Smoker put out an arm to stop the woman.

"Enough, Tashigi. Cuff these ruffians and drag them off to cells."

Tashigi looked like she wanted to protest, but then she wilted a little and, with a sharp glare at Sabo, she sheathed her blade. With the men who'd accompanied her, she cuffed the unconscious thugs and they lugged them away.

"What's your name?" Smoker asked.

"Sabo," the blond replied, unsure if the man was asking out of genuine curiosity or not. There was no point in lying, though.

By the look on his face, Smoker already heard plenty about him, but just as Sabo was tensing in preparation for a fight, Smoker nodded and took a step back.

"Stay out of trouble," was all the marine said before he left.

Sabo remained in place, bewildered, until the old bartender ordered him inside to receive a few belis in return for protecting the bar.

* * *

Over the next few months, Sabo had more than one run-in with Smoker and Tashigi. They always showed up in time to lock up the bastards that Sabo knocked to the ground. Tashigi always seemed to hate him for some reason – he had a feeling it was because he stayed away from committing open crimes and the marines had nothing on him, but he wasn't exactly a law-abiding citizen either. Smoker never said 'thank you' or anything for helping out with clearing the streets of scum, but he didn't shoot him with poisonous looks, either, and Sabo wasn't doing what he did for the marines, anyways, so he didn't much care.

"Why are you doing this?" Smoker asked once as he and Sabo watched Tashigi lead shackled criminals and marine underlings down the street towards the small base.

"A guy's gotta earn a living, right?" Sabo twirled his pipe absentmindedly, then rested it against his shoulder.

Smoker gave him an assessing look, then snorted, taking two cigars out of the straps on his vest and lighting them. Sabo wrinkled his nose, but didn't voice his disgust at the habit. He knew about Smoker's Devil Fruit ability at this point and was less than impressed that he used it as an excuse to smoke cancerous cigars.

"I've got a proposition for you," Smoker began.

"I'm not going to join the marines," Sabo said immediately. The very thought made a tendril of dread curl in Sabo's chest. He wasn't much of a life saver, anyway.

"I wasn't going to ask you to," Smoker scoffed. For a twenty-seven year old, he could drop to a teenager's level pretty easily. "I've seen the way you fight. I want you to spar against my men, and Tashigi. They could use a lesson in hand-to-hand combat."

That...actually sounded interesting.

"And, of course, you won't have to do this for free," Smoker added.

That incentive was a nice touch, too.

"I don't need the belis," Sabo decided after a moment. "But I would like a ship. In three years."

Smoker raised a brow. "What, are you planning on becoming a pirate?"

The thought excited Sabo, as it always did, but, like always, it felt wrong, too. Like something was missing.

"Nah." Sabo grinned. "I just want to go on an adventure."

Smoker sighed out a cloud of smoke and nodded decisively, offering a gloved to Sabo. "Sure. You got yourself a deal."

They shook on it and Sabo finally felt like he was getting somewhere.

* * *

Sabo spent the next three years continuing on as always, with the added hobby of knocking cocky marines on their asses. It was plenty of fun, and it was more entertaining than exercising every day without anyone to actually fight. He turned into a tall, lean man instead of remaining a lanky but strong teenager.

"Hey, Sabo, come with me," Smoker called after a bout of sparring with marines who, by this point, knew better than to rush into a fight with him.

Sabo followed the Devil Fruit user through the streets and to the docks, and he found himself stunned when Smoker stopped in front of a ship. It definitely wasn't new, but it looked well-cared for.

"I couldn't get you a marine ship, and of course I couldn't ask for funds to get some random civilian a ship for an adventure, but we have plenty of pirate ships to spare at this point, and this one seems big enough for five."

Sabo took a moment to register the fact that this was really happening, then another minute to let what Smoker said sink in.

"Wait, five?"

Smoker waved a hand and Sabo followed the gesture to see two men and two women standing nearby, chatting. When they saw they were being looked at, they joined the two at the ship. One of the men Sabo recognized as one of the marines from his early sparring days with them. The other three he was pretty sure he glimpsed around town. Heck, the two girls might've been kids he played with when he was younger.

"They want to join you on your adventure, and besides, you can't run a ship by yourself. A simple fishing boat would never make it on the Grandline."

He was right, so Sabo got the introductions out of the way immediately. Kita Hyobe, a (now) ex-marine, who knew how to cook a decent meal; Luciano, an ex-convict who knew how to repair a lot of things thanks to community service; Helene, a bold girl who knew how to get people to listen and had a bit of experience with repairing weapons in her free time; and Inna, a soft-spoken girl who actually knew what she was doing with medical supplies that Sabo couldn't even name.

"Good luck on your adventure," Smoker said as Luciano and Kita unfurled the sails, tossing Sabo an item he called a Log Pose. Helene and Inna were below deck, sifting through supplies. Sabo wanted to set sail immediately, since it was still early enough in the day that it wouldn't get dark for a fair amount of hours.

"Thanks," Sabo replied with a grin. "We'll be fine, though."

"I don't doubt it," Smoker mumbled under his breath as they set sail.

* * *

Navigating the sea turned out to not be such a tough thing to do. Smoker had provided them with maps of the East Blue, despite the fact that they had not far to go before they reached the Grandline, and even a few sketches of Grandline maps that were salvaged from shipwrecks and sat around uselessly at the main headquarters (why Smoker had them at all, Sabo would never know). Getting into the Grandline was a bit of a challenge, but it would've been more so had Sabo been alone, since he only had one eye to see out of. That's where Helene came in handy, locating the single opening of Reverse Mountain and guiding them through. From there, it was a rapid ride to the Grandline.

The Grandline was like nothing Sabo could ever have imagined – it was so much more! Things were bumpy at first, running into pirates who were also just starting on their Grandline journey. Though Sabo and his crew always managed to drive them off, they couldn't work together efficiently. Kita and Helene butted heads too often, Inna couldn't even bring herself to raise a weapon against anyone, much less someone attacking her, and Luciano went overboard with attacking and ended up creating most of the damage he had to repair. So Sabo decided it was time to take charge – he'd let Helene do most of the work up until this point, because he was writing in his journal and mapping out the Grandline as they went. He made them go through team exercises for weeks of, thankfully, uninterrupted time. When they next encountered a pirate crew, they worked together like an efficient team. Helene and Kite still bickered, but they watched each others' backs. Luciano took charge of putting the ship out of commission and tossing men overboard rather than sending them through the floorboards. Even Inna managed to bring a telescope down on a pirate's head when they were trying to attack Luciano from behind, though she was shaking like a leaf afterwards.

They were in no rush to conquer the Grandline like the pirates, though, so they lingered when they wished too before moving along, though they mostly stuck to the beginning of the Grandline so Sabo could write to his heart's content about the history of the island they visited. They took belis from pirates they defeated; they had to have belis to restock, after all. Sabo even learned about haki and how to use it. This carried on for three years before they were finally ready to go a long stretch. Not long after leaving a winter island that was house to a crazy witch-doctor-lady who was _really_ old (Sabo had a healing bump on his head from voicing that thought aloud), Inna had more medical supplies and books; she shut herself in the infirmary, happy enough to absorb the information and be even more helpful to her troublesome crewmates. Sabo, on the other hand, stood on deck while the others sheltered themselves from the cold weather, musing over information he received on an interesting event that occurred right before they arrived. A pirate apparently freed the island from the tyranny of an ex-king-turned-pirate, a pirate by the name of Luffy. It sounded...familiar somehow.

"C-Captain, get inside," Inna called out the door of the infirmary, looking more firm than she had been when they first set sail, though her dark pink nose and the trembling through her small body ruined the effect.

"Aye, doctor _-chan_ ," he teased back.

* * *

Their next stop was Alabasta, an island that was inhabited by a Shichibukai and was almost to the point of war.

"Are we sure it's safe here?" Inna whispered.

She, Luciano, and Kita were accompanying Sabo through a town close to the port while Helene watched the ship. The three others were stripped down as much as they could be, or wanted to be. That meant Inna was in a tank top borrowed from Helene, since she didn't own one, and shorts; Luciano was in pants that were fraying at the edges and shirtless, and Kita was in his old white marine uniform. (Helene had been in her bra and short-shorts last Sabo had seen, happily soaking up sunlight like a content cat.) Sabo was in his normal suit and top hat. All in all, they were a strange looking bunch and definitely got a lot of strange looks, but Sabo rather liked his crew in all their uniqueness.

"It's fine," Sabo assured her.

Nanohana was the name of the port town and it seemed as good a place as any to restock. But first things first. Sabo was starving!

"I'm going to go look for food," he announced, much to the annoyance of Kita and amusement of Inna; Luciano didn't really care. "Do you guys want to come?"

"No," Kita and Luciano replied, while Inna politely shook her head.

"We'll restock and meet you back at the ship," Kita added.

Sabo nodded and waved them off. Once they were out of sight, Sabo set off to find a good place to eat. It turned out to be much easier than he thought. There was a bar, crowded but nice and cool inside – a welcome relief from the outside. He took his hat off as soon as he entered and made his way towards the bar, where a few men sat apart from another man, who was shirtless and had an impressive tattoo on his back that Sabo recognized as the Jolly Roger of the Whitebeard Pirates. Sabo decided to take a seat next to him and flagged down the bartender, who was gazing, flabbergasted, at the plates swiftly being cleared by the freckled man.

"May I order a meal?" he asked politely.

"Sorry, sir," the bartender huffed, sweat beading his brow as he offered an apologetic smile. "This pirate has already pretty much bought my whole store of food."

"Oh..." Sabo was disappointed, and so was his stomach, which let out a plaintive growl, but Sabo just drummed his fingers on the counter. "Could I get some water then?" The man's face twisted and Sabo sighed. "How about sake?"

Alcohol on an empty stomach was not smart, but sake was probably the least alcoholic beverage he could order, so... The bartender nodded and turned away to the rows of bottles behind him. As he did, Sabo realized that the pirate was looking at him. Their eyes met and Sabo felt like his heart had stopped as the grey eyes assessed him. The pirate must've felt the same way because he suddenly started choking on his food. Startled as the brunet began coughing roughly, Sabo pounded a fist on his back firmly and a piece of chicken dislodged out of the pirate's mouth.

"Hah... Hah..." The pirate panted, then suddenly began laughing. "Sorry, sorry," he chuckled. "You're just... I just..." He rubbed the back of his head and grinned widely. "Damn, you're so cute you made me forget my pick-up line."

Sabo just stared, trying to make his expression as impassive as he could (Helene used pick-up lines on him all the time just to see him flustered, he should be able to do this, dammit!), but he could feel heat slowly pooling in his cheeks, climbing up to his ears and sliding down his neck, and it certainly wasn't from the sun outside.

"Ah, you were hungry, right?" The man gestured to the many untouched plates. "Be my guest."

Sabo felt flustered, more than he had ever been. He had never been interested in anyone, male or female, but this pirate was certainly flipping his world upside-down. But he wasn't about to turn down free food, so he took three plates out of...over twenty? (he couldn't exactly count with all the cleared and stacked plates) and began to eat. The bartender's jaw seemed to have dropped to the floor, but he didn't say a word as he set Sabo's mug of sake in front of him. When Sabo finished, he stood to go and the pirate scrambled to his feet to be face to face with him. They were roughly the same height.

"Thank you for the food," Sabo said politely, trying not to make a fool out of himself. "Ah, what's your name?"

The pirate grinned. "I'm A-"

"Captain!"

Inna flew through the doors, not noticing the hungry looks a few men cast her. She was panting and her skin was bright pink from the sun.

"Kita got into a fight!"  
Sabo put his top hat back on and tipped it towards the pirate. "Duty calls. Catch you out in the Grandline."

He left before the man could say anything. It didn't take long to resolve Kita's little situation and soon enough, they were all back on the ship. That night, Sabo went to bed early, not mentioning to anyone (least of all Helene) about the achingly familiar man.

* * *

 _"Sabo!"  
_

* * *

 _ **Journal Log #98:**_

 _ **I don't know what's happening. I keep having dreams that I forget as soon as I wake up. It's been happening ever since I met that one pirate in Alabasta. I haven't exactly been following the news, so I don't know the names of the Whitebeard Pirates, except Marco the Phoenix and the traitor Blackbeard, and for some reason I'm afraid to find out what his name is. Perhaps it's for the best. It's unlikely that we'll ever meet again.**_

* * *

Sabo didn't even know how it happened. He met Luffy unofficially at Sabaody, witnessing the rubberman – wow, those arms could stretch – freeing a mermaid. And, well, he was all about freedom, so he and his crew helped, which apparently made them friends in Luffy's book. But that left them right in the middle of the chaos when the marines and Pacifistas showed up. It was even more of a shock when Kuma, who Sabo hadn't seen since he was ten, appeared. He was...unrecognizable. His crew split when the Straw Hats, as they called themselves, did. But then they began vanished one by one at the hands of Kuma. Luciano disappeared when the reindeer-monster did. Kita was behind the cyborg when they vanished. Inna was popped out of view? existence? with the orange-haired lady. Luffy tried to get to the black haired woman, screaming her name – Robin – as she tried to run and Helene glowed like a star on earth as she triggered her abilities, but both were displaced with a swipe of Kuma's hand. Sabo's knees felt week as Luffy collapsed sobbing. He felt hot and cold at the same time and like he couldn't possible move another muscle. But then Kuma aimed for Luffy and Sabo was suddenly standing over the boy, sore and trembling, but holding his pipe and swinging it, desperate to protect someone and _not be useless_ , and he swore he saw a glint of recognition in Kuma's eyes, but then everything when dark.

* * *

Being sent to the island of women was most definitely not what Sabo wanted to wake up to. Luffy was ready to go search for his crew and it made Sabo feel inadequate to be a captain of his own because he still felt like he was in shock. But when Luffy received the news of his brother being executed in just a few days, he was raring to go and Sabo wouldn't be left behind. Luffy was optimistic and strong, and Sabo felt like he would see his crew again if he stuck around with him, so he agreed to help Luffy rescue his brother. Besides, when he saw, in the newspaper image, that the man to be executed – Portgas D. Ace – was the pirate from Alabasta, he couldn't just sit back and let it happen.

Breaking into Impel Down was not a part of the plan that Sabo was enthusiastic about, but he went along willingly because Luffy was the Captain in this adventure and what he said went. Sabo didn't think he could lead such an important mission, anyway, but he sure as hell was willing to help. But when they made it to the bottom and had to escape to the top? Well, he wasn't happy about going all that way for nothing, but with two ex-Shichibukai on their team, it would probably be a little easier than getting down had been. They managed to get out and onto a marine ship, almost losing Bon Kurei in the process, but Sabo had lost enough people in such a short time and hadn't let the idiot go alone, dragging him all the way out of the prison and onto the ship with the help of Jimbei's impressive water abilities. As they made the journey towards Marineford to stop the execution, Sabo took plenty of naps.

* * *

 _"Hey, you mentioned that nobles get married at eighteen, right?"_

 _"Yeah, that's why we agreed to leave at seventeen. Remember?"_

 _"Yeah, yeah. I know. I was just making sure."_

 **Silence.**

 _"Sabo?"_

 _"Yeah, Ace?"_

 _"You know... Even if we weren't going to become pirates before then... I'd marry you, if it'd save you from being unhappy."_

 _"..."_

 _"Uh... Unless you would be unhappy marrying me. You know, since we want to be free and all, and marriage isn't very freeing from what I've heard..."_

 **Silence.**

 _"Ace?"_

 _"Mhm?"_

 _"...I'd marry you, if I could marry anyone I wanted."_

 _"Really? Haha, good, because I'd marry you, too."_

 _"Shishishi! I knew it! Ace luvs Sabo! Sabo luvs Ace! ...are you guys gonna kiss, then?"_

 _ **"Luffy?!"**_

* * *

Arriving in the middle of the war taking place at Marineford was definitely the most exciting thing Sabo had done, aside from actually getting into the Grandline. And he was dwelling much less on the thought of his teammates with fighting going on on every inch of the ice covering the ocean. He was mostly back-up, but he stuck as close to Luffy as he could, gripping the pipe he ripped out of the marine ship close so he wouldn't lose his only weapon (besides his haki, though with his throbbing headache, his Observation Haki wasn't going to be of much use). He was definitely never leaving either of his brothers' sides when they got out of there. Look at how much trouble they'd gotten in while he was gone!

When Ace was free and they were all retreating, Sabo stuck with them. It was funny how surprised Ace seemed to see him. Sabo was sure that if they weren't in such a dire situation, he'd drop another pick up line. But everything quit being so amusing when Ace tried to go against Akainu, and Akainu tried to kill Luffy. Sabo dove right in front of his baby brother, coating his hands and pipe in haki, though he knew it wouldn't hold long. Not that it mattered because Ace – _wonderful, stupid, protective Ace –_ was in front of him, a fist of lava sticking out of his chest. Sabo felt like he was viewing everything from far away as he cried out in anger, swinging his pipe around Ace and striking Akainu, making him stumble back and release Ace. Sabo caught him and grabbed Luffy, who seemed to have fallen comatose at the sight of Ace's gaping wound, dragging them back as the pirates around them drove Akainu back. Sabo managed to get them back to the ice because Akainu caught up, but Jimbei protected them. Sabo's vision was faltering; he was coated in Ace's blood and he couldn't hear the older boy breathing. Crocodile sent them into the air and Akainu's next attack went right through Jimbei and skimmed across Luffy's chest. Sabo felt his breath catch when Luffy didn't even react, and everything went black.

* * *

Waking up was unpleasant, but Sabo was about just as achy as he thought he'd be. That seemed to be happening a lot. He wasn't dead, and that was a sobering thought, because what if Ace and Luffy were? If it weren't for his nakama, and Luffy's, then he wouldn't have been able to force himself out of the bed he found himself in. He stumbled into a hallway of some sort of ship? and walked down it, following the echoes of noises until he reached what looked like the infirmary.

"Saaaaboooo!"

Something small and fast collided hard with him and he felt his ribs (where he got a not-so-friendly kick from a rather strong marine) twinge painfully as rubber arms wrapped around him multiple times and _squeezed_ the air from his lungs.

"Are you really Sabo?" the blond managed to make out through Luffy's sob-ridden words.

"Lu, I told you, I don't know if he is," a weak voice scolded.

Sabo felt like ice was flowing through his veins as he looked up and met grey eyes he thought he'd never see again.

"I don't care!" Luffy wailed. "Thank you, thank you so much for saving us!"

Sabo rested a hand on Luffy's hair gently, looking down at his brother, and he smiled.

"You're still such a crybaby."

That shut Luffy up for about half a minute before he was sobbing desperately again, squeezing Sabo even tighter. He swore he heard his bones groan in response. But he coddled the little brother he had missed without even realizing it for thirteen years until Luffy fell into an exhausted sleep. By then, Ace was sleeping, too, so Sabo hefted Luffy into the empty medical bed next to Ace's and collapsed into the chair between the beds, dozing off almost as soon as his head bowed and his chin brushed his chest.

* * *

"Guess what I'm wearing?" Ace teased as he and Sabo circled each other.

Sabo, blindfolded as per Rayleigh's instructions, could vaguely feel Ace's presence and yeah, he needed to work on his haki. "What?" Sabo asked, lips twitching.

"The smile you gave me."

Sabo snorted, unable to help it, even as his ears began to feel suspiciously warm, and he didn't notice Ace charging him until they collided.

"Oooo!" Luffy hissed sympathetically from the sidelines somewhere to their left.

Sabo felt his lungs flatten completely as Ace landed on him, and as he gasped for breath, Ace rolled off of him and did the same, obviously realizing that making such a move while still recovering from his organ-melting wound was not a good idea. Good thing Trafalgar Law was an amazing and creepy scientists who happened to have a lot of organs and body parts lying around for "medical purposes."

Ace's hand felt out Sabo's and Sabo gripped it back as Rayleigh decided it was a good time for them to take a break while he took Luffy out to fight giant animals again. Slowly but steadily, they were getting stronger.

"Hey, Sabo," Ace called softly.

"Mm?"

Releasing his hand, Ace rolled over so he was partly laying on Sabo and gently removed the blindfold. Sabo blinked a few times to get used to the sunlight again, and it was still strange to not be wearing his patch, but Ace and Luffy assured him they liked him they way he was, scars and all, even if he himself didn't.

"Your eyes are bluer than the Grandline, and baby I'm lost at sea."

Sabo still didn't understand why he blushed at Ace's cheesy pick up lines, but he was sure his cheeks were taking on a nice, rosy hue from the way Ace's grin widened.

"If _love_ was written on every grand of sand in Alabasta, that still doesn't equal my love for you," the brunet decided to add for good measure.

Sabo's lips twitched and before Ace could realize and stop him, he shifted his weight and sent Ace sprawling on his back while Sabo hovered over him. Sabo brushed his lips against Ace's and Ace wrapped an arm around his waist as he sat up. Luffy had encouraged (forced) them to talk, and they did, for hours, while they were still in Law's ship. And, well, a lot of things came out, including how they felt for each other. Even with his memories a little fuzzy, Sabo knew he had loved Ace more than life itself and it had been killing him inside to leave him and Luffy behind. And Ace still didn't understand how much he meant. To Luffy, to the Whitebeard Pirates...and to Sabo.

"Ace... Are you a dictionary?" Sabo rested his forehead against Ace's. "Because you give meaning to my life."

Ace's eyes widened and Sabo swore they got a little watery, but before he could be sure, Ace tugged him into another kiss and whispered against Sabo's lips, "If I had to choose between breathing and loving you, I would use my last breath to say, 'I love you'."

Sabo buried his face in Ace's shoulder, squeezing the lovable idiot for all he was worth because damn if he had a way with words he definitely didn't as a child.

* * *

 _ **"I love you."**_

 _ **"I love you, too."**_

* * *

 **((A/N: So...OCs. Yeah, I made them up on the spot. I wanted Sabo to go alone, originally, buuuut...well, like Smoker said, a fishing boat wouldn't have made it up Reverse Mountain, much less through the Grandline, and one man, even as talented as Sabo is, can't run a ship.**

 _ **Kita Hyobe – originally from the West or South Blue (no one's really sure). That's why he has red hair. He's a(n ex-)marine who has been to the Grandline briefly, but never actually had to travel it aside from crossing from his home to the East Blue. He is shorter than all of them looks really skinny, if you look closely, you can see the underlying muscle. He has sandy hair and dark eyes that could be purple, brown, or even grey, and freckles mar every visible space of skin.**_

 _ **Luciano – he is actually from North Blue. He's an ex-convict, but not a pirate or anything. He's reformed (mostly) and jumped at the chance to get out of Loguetown and his current, boring life.**_

 _ **He is tall and well-muscled with scars stretching taunt over his shoulders and collarbone; his sun-tan skin makes the scars all the more visible. He is eldest amongst the group, but not by much. Stress has caused his dark brown hair to have strands of silver mixed in and his eyes are two different colours – one blue, one brown.**_

 _ **Helene – she's an East Blue native. She comes from the same island that Nami and Nojiko are from, though obviously she left before its occupants were wiped out. One of her parents was from the North, thus why she has dark skin, but her other parent was from the West, giving her her light hair. She's a Devil Fruit user who gains energy from light in any form, though the sun works best. She can use that energy as a weapon – like bullets – or to boost her adrenaline, or even preserve it for later in case they need an inextinguishable (with the exception of the sea) light source in the dark. She can only hold so much light, though. She won't go anywhere without Inna and convinced her friend to travel with her.**_

 _ **She has bleach-blonde curls and darker skin than Luciano. She also has freckles, but just over her nose and at the corner of her left eye. Both of her eyes are amber with green speckles. Her voice is loud and confident, commanding attention.**_

 ** _Inna – she's from the South and she's lived with Helene from childhood. She has more medical knowledge than the rest of the group, though she's definitely not a doctor. She has long, straight maroon hair and skin as pale as Sabo's, if not paler, with not a single mark or blemish. She burns easily in the sun, though, and she's quiet-spoken. She's incredibly intelligent, though she doesn't like to flaunt._ ))**

* * *

 **((A/N: Sorry for rushing through the Arcs like that, but I had to get to Marineford. And after that. Pick up lines are my weakness, can't you tell? And the end, with the italics and bold? That's past and present Sabo and Ace confessing love for each other~ I hope you enjoyed it!))**


	56. SaboAce Week: Day 4

**((A/N: RyuichiSakuma from AO3 asked for a sort of continuation of the _Idiot/Genius_ chapter with Ace and Sabo in college, and I decided this prompt day could work for that, so here you go. I hope you enjoy. It's meant to be short but sweet!))**

* * *

 _ **Day 4: Scars/Tattoos**_

* * *

College wasn't as terrible as Ace had assumed it would be. Don't get him wrong, he despised going to the classes when he knew he'd be taking them for two years just to get the most minor degree, but with Sabo in almost all his classes, he could survive, and he even managed to get passing grades, and not just above the passing mark, either. And, of course, with college came college fees and the need to get a job. Sabo was more than happy to dwell within the Grandline College's library with his new friend, Koala, but Ace wasn't about to waste his free time in that Hellhole. So he went three blocks away every day after classes let out to one of the many tattoo parlors his second family worked together to run. This particular one happened to be run by Marco, Thatch, and Izou. Edward Newgate, Ace's father figure, even came down to help once in a while, though he left the more delicate designs to his sons. Ace was quick to learn how to permanently ink someone's skin and even got a tattoo on his back, a large one, dedicated to Newgate to show how much his love and the job meant to him. Marco approved and did it himself; he had a similar one across his chest that he bared proudly whether he was working or just out in public. Life was going pretty good, considering the hassle it took for Ace to pass High School in the final stretch. But in Ace's experience, when things began going too well, something bad was bound to happen.

He just didn't expect it to happen to Sabo.

It was a breezy, autumn Friday, and Halloween was just around the corner. Ace worked late on Fridays and Saturdays and had Sundays off completely so he could spend time with Sabo and, sometimes, catching up on homework he procrastinated on. He got back to their dorm room, which he shared with Sabo and an older student by the name of Trafalgar Law, and was surprised to find it completely dark. Now, it wasn't unusual for Sabo to go to bed early when Ace worked late, but Law had a nasty habit of staying up past normal hours, or even all night. But Ace figured that maybe Law got the guts to ask Eustass Kidd or the campus guard, Smoker, out finally and just shut the door behind him, clicking on the light and holding his breath as he hoped Sabo wouldn't wake. He was startled to discover it was Law sprawled across his bed, not Sabo, and the blond was nowhere to be seen.

"Ace-ya?"

The freckled man just about escaped from his skin when Law suddenly sat up, wide awake as if he hadn't just been snoozing. Law rubbed his eyes and Ace winced when he saw that the bags under his eyes were much more pronounced. Then he realized that it was not because Law had lost more sleep than normal, but because he was much paler than usual.

"Law, are you alright?" Ace asked, stepping forward quickly as the med student slid out of bed and stumbled.

"I'm fine," Law replied stubbornly, pushing away Ace's hands. "We have to go."

"Go where?"

Law cast an irritated glance towards him that shut him up as the dark haired male snagged his keys off of the desk the three roommates shared.

"What's going on?" Ace dared to ask as he followed Law out of the dorm building and through the parking lot towards his car.

"Did you not have your phone on you?"

Ace frowned as he climbed into the passenger seat and Law got in on the driver's side.

"I shut it off to preserve the battery."

Law still seemed vexed, but a little less so as he started his car and pulled out of the parking lot. He didn't speak as Ace turned his phone on.

"Holy shit..." the tattoo artist mumbled, seeing at least twenty calls from Law, a couple from Kidd and Bonney, and even a few from Luffy. He was worried now; Luffy wouldn't call unless it was important. "Law, what happened?"

"There was a fire in the commons area," Law finally revealed, jaw clenched tightly. "The whole building was burned down.

"No way," Ace breathed. "Was anyone hurt?"

There was more silence from Law, and dread filled Ace, chasing the air from his lungs.

"Law, was...was Sabo...?"

"...yes."

Ace sat back in his seat, his limbs feeling heavy and unresponsive as his mind and heart raced. Sabo was hurt. He was hurt badly enough that _Law_ was visibly showing signs of worry, and even Luffy had tried to contact Ace. It didn't take much longer for them to reach the hospital of the esteemed Dr. Kureha, who was raising the youngest person in the college, Chopper, who also happened to work under her. Ace and Law got out of the car and went inside.

"Oh, Law, you've returned," the green-haired women with large glasses noted boredly at the front desk. "This must be Ace?"

"Enough, Monet," Law snapped. "Is Sabo-ya still allowed to receive visitors?"

"Yeah," Monet sighed, snapping bubble gum in her mouth. "In fact, he woke up not long ago, but he might not still be up now."

Law thanked her through gritted teeth – they obviously had some kind of history – and without asking which room Sabo was in, Law began leading the way down one of the halls. They slowed before reaching a partially open door, and Ace could hear Chopper's soft voice.

"Do you want any more water, Sabo?"

"N-no thanks, Chopper," the raspy voice of Ace's boyfriend replied, and Ace's heart clenched as Law stepped into the room first, Ace following closely behind.

There were a lot of vases of flowers on every available surface, and a teetering stack of cards in one of the far corners of the room. Sabo was laying in one of two beds, his being the only occupied one, and he was hooked up to all kinds of machines. But that's not what made Ace's breath catch. The whole upper left side of his head was swathed with bandages, as well as most of what was visible of his body. Sabo glanced over at the door and his visible eye widened and a smile spread across his face.

"Ace!"

Law stepped out of the way as Ace stumbled forward, stepping hastily around the flowers, and leaned down once he reached Sabo's bedside. Sabo reached up with his free arm and pulled Ace into a hug, which Ace returned tightly.

"Be careful!" Chopper squawked, tugging sharply on Ace's shirt. "He's on a lot of painkillers, but he's still injured!"

Ace pulled away reluctantly, muttering, "Sorry, Chopper."

Sabo was severely injured, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered as Ace pressed a kiss to his forehead.

* * *

It took a month for Sabo to leave the hospital, and even then it was only because Kureha was personally seeing to him. Ace was more than glad to escort Sabo back to their dorm room, though he was a little worried about the fact that Sabo no longer had sight in his left eye and kept stumbling.

"I'll be fine," Sabo assured him with a smile. "I just need to get used to this change in perception."

And for a while, it did seem like Sabo was doing well. He caught up with the homework he missed, which Koala helped him with, and he continued to get high grades as time passed. He still laughed at all Ace's stupid jokes and helped Ace tease Law about being attracted to both the strong-and-silent types and the strong-and-lippy types. Ever since the accident, Ace kept his phone charging and turned up in case something like that ever happened again. So when he got a call on a Saturday in the middle of the afternoon, and he saw it was Law who was calling, he expected the worst.

"You need to get back here right now," Law ordered and, without letting Ace know what was going on – like always – hung up.

"Marco," Ace called to the back. "I'm gonna have to take a rain-check on that dinner with Oyaji tonight."

"Sure," Marco replied, voice muffled through the door. "See you later. Tell Sabo I said 'hello'."

And with that, Ace was free to return to the dorm. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn't Law, crouched by Sabo's bed, where a blanketed figure trembled.

"He just had a panic attack," Law explained in a soft voice, as if not to startle Sabo more. "You two need to talk."

Law left to give the two space, and Ace managed to coax Sabo out from his cocoon. It took a bit of time to get Sabo to talk about what was bothering him, but when he did, it was through a new storm of tears. He was having nightmares about the fire constantly, and the scars on his torso were sensitive and got irritated easily no matter what he wore while the scars on his arm, leg, and face were so numb that it felt like those pieces of him were missing. And worse off all were the night terrors he had about Ace and everyone he cared about leaving because he was different now. Ace held him as he sobbed and wheezed and tried to gather himself back together. Ace was shaken; he hadn't realized that Sabo was so effected by this. That night, he held Sabo close, and in the morning, he convinced the blond to skip their classes for the day. Sabo admitted that talking had helped a lot and he thanked Ace with a soft kiss. It was more than enough for Ace.

For the next few weeks, Ace wracked his brain for a way to show Sabo he cared immensely about him. Flowers and chocolates and other lovey-dovey, normal couple things were tossed out the window immediately. He wanted this to be something permanent or at the very least long-lasting. It was on the day before his twentieth birthday that he finally figured it out.

"Are you sure?" Marco asked, raising a brow.

Ace nodded firmly, grinning. "Of course. I'm absolutely certain. No doubts about it."

Marco smirked slightly and shook his head with a sigh. "Alright. This saves me from having to come up with a birthday gift for you."

Ace's birthday landed on a Friday, and while that usually meant he had to work late, Marco had given him permission to leave at three in the afternoon instead.

"I'll see you then," Sabo said from the bed, reading a book Koala had bought for him during his stay in the library. It was a unique book with words in writing on one page and the same words in braille on the opposing page. He had wanted to learn braille before, so why not use being half-blind as an excuse to?

* * *

When Ace got back to the dorm that evening, he had bags of take-out. He was surprised, but pleased, to find that Law was gone upon his return.

"Smoker asked him out to a movie," Sabo announced when Ace asked about their roommate's absence. "Also, Kidd is dating some foreign exchange student. He calls him Killer; I don't know his real name."

Ace nodded and crawled onto the bed with Sabo and they curled up together, eating Chinese food and watching a movie on Sabo's laptop. When Sabo leaned against Ace to snag a shrimp from his meal, Ace hissed softly, causing Sabo to jump.

"Are you hurt?" Sabo asked worriedly, hands hovering over Ace's left arm.

"Ah, no. I just got a new tattoo."

"Oh!" Sabo's eyes were practically glowing; he loved seeing Marco's handiwork, and Ace could hardly blame him. Marco was a talented artist, and his tattoos were the best in the world. "Let me see."

Ace smiled and let Sabo help unwrap his arm. Sabo froze upon seeing it, jaw dropping open a little bit, but Ace knew him well enough to know he was far from upset.

"Well... Originally, I wanted to give you a tattoo. You know, to cover up the scars or something..." Ace scratched the back of his head with his right hand. "But since some of your scars are sensitive, and a face tattoo might not be the best for future jobs, I thought this would be good."

Sabo's fingers lifted to the tattoo, but hovered over the skin. He knew better than to touch it the same day it was done. The tattoo was Ace's name, but with an 's' that shouldn't have belonged, but somehow did, leaving it as: **A S C E**.

"Now," Ace added, smiling, "I'll always have a little piece of you with me. You're that important to me, you know."

And Ace was more than ready to receive the tight hug from Sabo. He returned it with just as much strength, pressing a kiss to the top of Sabo's head.

"I love you, Sabo."

Ace reached down with one hand and dug around in his pocket as Sabo pulled away. He pulled something out and held out his hand, letting his fingers open to reveal what was in his palm.

"I know that I'm supposed to do this in a more romantic setting than our college dorm, but will you marry me?"

* * *

 **((A/N: Bam! How'd you like _that_ ending! And of course, Sabo said yes, with a whole lot of tears and whining about how it was so unfair of Ace to do so much for him without getting anything in return. But Ace, being the cool dude he is, just said that getting Sabo's love in return was enough for him. So! I hope everyone enjoys it!))**


	57. SaboAce Week: Day 5

_**Day 5: Blush/Innocent**_

* * *

 _Ages: Ace = 10, Luffy = 7_

* * *

"Hey, Ace?"

The freckled boy grunted in response as he lined up his slingshot with an oblivious woodpecker in a nearby tree behind the orphanage co-run by Curly Dadan and Makino. It was just him and Luffy against the world after their grandfather left them there to run off and train wimps in the marines. The other kids in the orphanage didn't matter. ...except the blond boy – Sabo. He was nice to them since day one.

"Where do babies come from?"

The question startled Ace out of his thoughts. He flinched and released his grip on the leather pad that held a small stone. The rock whipped through the leaves mere centimeters from the bird, which took off in a flurry of feathers and offended caws while Ace cursed softly and frowned at Luffy.

"Why do you wanna know where babies come from?"

Luffy shrugged, looking at his older brother expectantly. Ace wracked his brain for an answer that wouldn't corrupt his brother's mind. Garp had very straight-forwardly answered that same questions for Ace when he was just six years old; he still couldn't look a girl in the eyes after that. (Dadan didn't count.)

"Uh..."

One of the woodpecker's feathers floated down to rest on Luffy's wild mess of black hair. Ace abruptly recalled a story Makino had read to the rest of the kids one day while Luffy was napping. What was the bird in the story called again?

"Seagulls bring 'em."

Luffy's nose wrinkled in confusion. "Seagulls?"

"Yep. They used to have to deliver babies to pirates because no other bird was so brave as to travel the wild airs above the treacherous waters. And they continue to do so today!"

Luffy's eyes lit up. "Oh! Okay!"

Ace patted himself on the back for acting as an older brother and not ruining Luffy's mind too early.

* * *

 _Ages: Sabo (+ Ace) = 15, Luffy = 12_

* * *

"Sabo?"

"Hm?" The blond was sitting at the desk in front of the single window of their room. He was very much involved with the book he'd snagged from the local library, though he couldn't help glancing out the window to watch Ace play baseball with a handful of other boys from both the orphanage and the neighborhood. He had come a long way from the angry ten year old who first showed up.

"How do you kiss someone?"

Sabo paused, then spun around in his chair to face Luffy, who was eagle-spread on Ace's bed and staring at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I know you kiss someone you love, but there's all kinds of kisses, right?"

When Luffy looked over, Sabo nodded slowly.

"Makino gives us forehead kisses because she loves us like her babies. And I give you cheek kisses all the time because you're my brother. But what about the kisses you and Ace share when you think no one's looking?"

Sabo's face turns pink. "Luffy!" The blond runs a hand down his face. "Yes, Ace and I kiss each other one the lips, b-but that's not the only way to kiss someone you _love_ love."

Luffy's eyes turn the size of dinner plates. "Really?"

He looks so eager that Sabo scrambled to find a suitable answer. "Um... Yeah. There are Eskimo kisses!" He mentally applauded himself.

"Show me!" Luffy demanded, bounding over to Sabo and giving him such an expectant look that he couldn't deny him.

"Okay, okay."

He leaned forward and just as his nose was about to brush Luffy's-

"What are you doing!?"

Sabo jumped and his lips touched the tip of Luffy's nose instead. Both he and Luffy leaned back to look at the fuming Ace in the doorway, baseball bat over his shoulder.

"L-Luffy just wanted to learn how to kiss," Sabo squeaked out.

That wasn't the best way to word it because Ace chucked his bat to the side and suddenly Sabo was watching a squirming mass of tan skin and dark hair and listening to their outraged shrieks at each other. It took forever to calm them down enough that Sabo could explain properly to Ace.

* * *

 _Ages: Sabo + Ace = 23, Luffy = 19_

* * *

"Sabo, Ace, how did you guys know that you loved each other?"

Luffy's voice was so quiet that his older brothers almost didn't hear him. As soon as Ace had turned eighteen, he'd moved into a house just down the street from their old orphanage and he brought Sabo and Luffy with him. They were very much happy with their life, and Luffy was done with school now, jumping right into work after declaring his deep-seated hatred for school and not wanting to go to college.

"I loved Sabo as soon as I figured out that he could send me on my ass when he put his mind to it."

Sabo glared playfully at Ace.

"Well, I found out that I loved Ace when I saw that he wasn't just a bundle of angst and could actually be really sweet," Sabo said in a teasing tone that caused Ace's cheeks to turn red.

Luffy sighed softly, elbows resting on the windowsill. The house was small and the brothers all shared a room, though they certainly didn't mind the close proximity.

"Why, Luffy?" Sabo finally asked, knowing Ace wouldn't speak up. "Are you in love with someone?"

Luffy just sighed again. Sabo finally got up from the bed he and Ace shared and crossed the room to look over Luffy's head to check out what he was looking at. He found his gaze on a tan man with bleached spots of skin struggling with an armload of grocery bags and obviously searching around for his house keys on his front porch across the street. Sabo was pretty well acquainted with Trafalgar Law. He was a broody man with a terrible past, but a skilled doctor who would give those who couldn't pay free treatment outside of the hospital. Luffy managed to get through his thick skin and told Sabo about how much he wanted to give Law an Eskimo kiss. Glancing down at Luffy, the blond couldn't help but smile at the faraway look in Luffy's eyes as he watched Law.

"Hey, who don't you help Trafalgar out, huh?"

Luffy's wide eyes darted over to Sabo and he beamed widely.

"Okay!"

He ran out of the room before Ace could stop him.

"Sabo! Don't let him go out to that creepy doctor..." Ace whined.

Sabo watched Luffy cross the street with long strides and approached Luffy. Law looked wary, frowning slightly, but as Luffy chattered – Sabo couldn't hear him, but he could see his brother's jaw moving – he relaxed slightly and let Luffy take his bags from him. As Law unlocked the door and led the way inside, Luffy twisted around to send a thumbs up towards Sabo before skipping inside, kicking the door shut behind him. Sabo turned back to Ace, who was pouting.

"Don't worry so much," Sabo scolded playfully. "I'm sure he'll be fine. And besides, you wanted him to get out of the house for a little while, right? Now we can go out without worrying about our house burning down."

Ace seemed to cheer up at that and began to get ready to go out.

* * *

 **((A/N: Maybe I'll make a continuation of this about how Law is super confused about the weird courtship methods of one Monkey D. Luffy from across the street. ^_^ ))**


	58. SaboAce Week: Day 6

**((A/N: Ace and Sabo are both seventeen at this point in time, and that's about all you need to know. Oh, wait, and it's also another side-story-ish thing to my soulmate AU series. Enjoy!))**

* * *

 _ **Day 6: Regret/Hallucination**_

* * *

Ace had made a promise with Luffy – they would live their lives with no regrets. Ace's life was even better than he thought it'd be when he became a pirate. He set sail and was finally free. He had his own crew. And while he hadn't appreciated it at first, he gained a new family in the Whitebeard Pirates. However, while he hadn't regretted anything in his adulthood, that didn't mean he didn't have any regrets in the first place. And his biggest regret was not fighting for Sabo against Bluejam. Every time he thought about it, it felt like it was his fault that Sabo had died. Maybe that's why he retained his colors. It was his punishment for letting his soulmate lose hope and think he had to leave on his own. But a small part of him couldn't help but hope that Sabo might really be alive still, but he pushed that part of him so far down that it hardly saw the light of day anymore.

 _Happy birthday, Sabo,_ Ace thought, watching the stars aboard the ship of the Whitebeard Pirates, the newest addition to his small family. His fingers grazed the tattoo on his arm, a constant reminder to him of what he'd lost – and a tribute to the first person to ever care for him with all their being. _I hope you're freer in the stars than you were down on earth._

"Ace, you should go to bed, yoi," Marco called, and when Ace turned, he was standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the rooms. He was shirtless and looked exhausted with dark bags under his eyes. They _had_ just gotten back from kicking the asses of pirates who tried to take over a few island under Whitebeard's protection.

"Alright."

With one last glance at the sea of stars above, reflected on the waves below, Ace followed Marco down the stairs.

* * *

 **Across the Grandline...**

* * *

Sabo thought he'd be fine.

"It's just a flesh wound," he had assured Koala, waving off her concern with the flippancy of a teenager – which he was. And he was just starting to get ahold of the ability to use Observation Haki, but while that helped him with detecting people, he couldn't focus it enough to sense small objects like bullets.

He wasn't even bleeding all that badly, and if it'd been a regular bullet, he wouldn't have had anything to worry about. But it wasn't a normal bullet. It was poisoned and he was stumbling as he and Koala ran to get to the ship. Their mission was complete, the files were in Koala's bag, and they were ready to go home. They hadn't realized how fast the poison worked until Sabo's legs gave out completely.

"Sabo _-kun_!" Koala cried out in shock, skidding to a stop.

"Go!" he shouted. "Get out of here, Koala!"  
"But-"

She was cut off as a bullet shot past her, embedding into a nearby wall, and she took off with one last yell from Sabo. With Koala getting to safety, Sabo rolled onto his back just as the first few men began to run past him. He kicked in the knee of one man, breaking it with a loud _snap,_ and slammed his pipe into the groin of another. That's when they began paying attention to him and a solid kick to the temple was, embarrassingly enough, all that was needed to knock him unconscious.

"Hey, are you going to wake up any time soon?"

Sabo cracked his eyes open and winced at the throbbing in his head from the slight, dim as it was.

"Wh-what..." he rasped in a dazed tone.

"You got caught, stupid."

Sabo opened his eyes further and through his slightly blurred vision, he saw a man leaning over him, yet he felt like he was in no danger from this person. As his sight cleared, he could make out freckles and grey eyes, and he recognized him.

"F-Fire Fist..."

He was in the news a lot, especially since he joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became a commander (though Sabo felt like he knew him from someplace else, but trying to reach that memory just out of his fingertips made his head hurt worse).

"Yeah, that's me. Call me Ace. Now, are you alright?" Ace paused. "No, of course not. Where are you hurt?"

"Head," Sabo answered immediately. "Probable concussion. Arm, gunshot wound. It was...poisoned."

"Right," Ace confirmed. "Don't forget about all the bruises you've received."

Now that Ace mentioned it, Sabo could definitely feel where bruises were forming. His eyes fluttered shut as he uttered a pain groan, and he felt phantom pain arch across his face, as if he'd been hit with a pipe. His teeth hurt. He opened his eyes to find Ace still over him, arms crossed tightly and a sour look on his face.

"No sleeping. You have a concussion, remember? And you're in enemy territory. We have to go. Right now."

Ace offered a hand and Sabo's hand slid across the floor before he could summon the energy to lift it and grasp Ace's hand. Ace didn't pull him up, letting Sabo struggle his way off the floor, and when Sabo went to release the raven haired boy, he realized he was no longer holding onto him, but instead his pipe.

"Where did this come from?" he mumbled.

"The enemy is even dumber than you," Ace stated.

Sabo gave him a weak glare, tired of being insulted, and Ace's gaze softened.

"Sorry. You are more likely to remain awake and motivated if you're pissed."

Sabo has heard that before, from Koala, in fact.

"Do you know the way out?"

"No," Ace said with a shrug. "But you do."

Sabo wracked his brain and distantly recalled being dragged a few directions. He relayed what he could remember to Ace, who nodded.

"Yeah, I can follow that. Follow me."

So Sabo did, trusting a man he'd never met before then with his life. He didn't understand it, but he didn't fight it. A glance around as they traveled revealed that they were in a large warehouse with a lot of boxes forming paths, both real and blocked off. They only took one wrong turn before they got near the entrance, but Ace stopped him from passing the wall of boxes.

"There's guards out there. Three," Ace said, tugging Sabo close enough to peer around him. "Can you handle them?"

"Will you help me?" Sabo pleaded.

He was so tired and weak from the poison. Ace seemed to realize that, mouth settling in a grim line. "Fine." He reached out and took Sabo's wrist, and Sabo felt a surge of warmth through him, as if a fire had been kindled within his chest.

The next thing Sabo knew, he was out the door, three unconscious guards on the floor behind him. Apparently their leader thought they could handle watching a poisoned Revolutionary. What a mistake. Ace kept a hand around Sabo's wrist, keeping him on his feet, until they reached the area where he and Koala had gotten separated.

"I'm gonna look around," Ace said, pushing Sabo to sit with his back against a nearby building. He was having trouble breathing and was surprised when Ace pushed his head between his knees. "This should help. I think. Marco says it will help with breathing in some cases." Ace patted his head. "Keep breathing."

Then he was gone. Sabo tried to keep breathing and was just dozing off when hands landed on his shoulders. He flinched, sitting up, and Koala leaned back to avoid getting a bruise on her forehead.

"Sabo _-kun_ ," she breathed in relief. "I thought we'd lost you."

He noticed Ivankov standing behind her, his nails extended. He must've used some kind of hormones on him.

"Come on," Koala urged, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and helping him stand.

"Wait..." he said. "There was..." He pause, straining to remember what was so important that he needed to find. "...nevermind."

"Let's get a move on," Ivankov said, and they began heading towards the docks.

* * *

 **(A/N: Was Ace dreaming and connecting with Sabo's waking, weakened mind? That's up to you to decide. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!)**


	59. 5 and 1 Times - Part 1

**5 Times Trafalgar Law Found Himself Involved In Sentimental Situations (And 1 Time When Words Weren't Involved)**

* * *

 _Summary: Law wasn't a sentimental person. In fact, he was best known for his cold and almost sadistically cruel personality. While most information about the North Blue captain were just rumors, he never did anything to prove the public wrong. Not where they could see, anyway._

* * *

Thousands of feet underwater, in his submarine, Law had just finished the surgeries of ex-Shichibukai Jinbei and Supernova Mugiwara no Luffy. Law permitted his nakama to move Jinbei to another room, but Luffy was to remain, in case he descended into the red zone once more. Sitting heavily in a nearby chair, Law began his vigil with a medical book in hand. A few hours passed and Law glanced up from a riveting passage on the insides of the heart, only to find himself locking gazes with his previously comatose patient. The only sign that the older man was surprised was the slight widening of his eyes. Luffy's eyes closed for a long moment and Law thought he'd gone back under until the eyes opened again, glassy and confused, brows furrowed. Law stood, setting his book in his seat, and chose to sit on the edge of Luffy's bed instead.

"Everything is okay," he soothed, reaching out a hand to smooth back Luffy's hair. He didn't know why he was doing this, except Luffy's expression resembled Lami's on a bad day while she was sick, no, poisoned. At the thought, Law stopped his actions and made to stand, but a distressed noise left Luffy's throat and the heart monitor recorded an increase in heart rate. Law sighed and settled back down. "I'm not going to leave you, Mugiwara-ya."

Law gently stroked Luffy's hair until he fell back into slumber and wondered what he was getting himself involved in.


	60. 5 and 1 Times - Part 2

**5 Times Trafalgar Law Found Himself Involved In Sentimental Situations (And 1 Time When Words Weren't Involved)**

* * *

 **(A/N: These chapters are set in the same universe, so this happened after the first chapter, in the middle of the two year timeskip. However, while there's hints of ships, there's nothing official...yet.)**

* * *

"Where is he?"

Law didn't care that his voice was taut with concern he usually kept well-concealed. He followed Killer down below the deck of the Kidd Pirates' ship and to the infirmary. It smelled of rot and metal, but Law didn't take much notice as he approached the only injured patient with red hair.

Eustass Kidd was paler than normal, making his lips look like they were coated in blood (or were they?). Dark shadows marred the undersides of his closed eyes and his cheeks appeared gaunt. He was stripped of his shirt and his chest rose and fell sluggishly. Bandages had been sloppily applied to his face, torso, left arm, and a few even peered out from under the waistline of his pants.

"It's his arm we're most concerned with," Killer explained lowly. His left arm was swathed with bandages too, Law noticed, but they weren't as blood stained as Kidd's.

With a foreboding sense of trepidation, Law peeled back the crusty red bandages. The odor of decay became more potent as the South Blue captain's arm was revealed. If Law didn't have a particularly strong stomach, he probably would've lost his lunch; as it was, he had to swallow back bile. Killer cursed behind him. Law had seen and treated many "incurable" diseases and "irreparable" injuries, but he knew when it was impossible to fix something and gangrene was an irreversible infection that not even Law's Ope Ope abilities could miraculously rid from a patient's body.

"Trafalgar..."

"I can't fix this..."

"What?!"

Law was roughly turned around by his shoulders. Killer had taken his helmet off at some point while Law had been preoccupied by how close to death Kidd looked. Like his captain, the first mate had bandages over part of his face.

"I can't fix what incompetent medical treatment has wrought," Law reiterated.

He was shoved away and watched impassively as Killer began to pace, profanities flowing from his lips.

"However..." His words brought the blond to an abrupt stop. "...I may be able save his life."

Law let his hand hover above the blackened skin of Eustass Kidd's left arm. He couldn't see Killer's eyes through his wild fringe, but he knew they were undoubtedly wide. A beat of silence settled between them.

"...he can't consent to it..." Killer said quietly, the slight tilt of his head giving away his change in focus from Law to Kidd.

"No, he can't," Law agreed. "But his first mate can."

Killer looked tense, obviously wracked with indecision about making a life altering choice like the one presented to him, but then he took a deep breath and nodded. It was all the permission Law required as he turned back to Kidd.

" _Room_."

* * *

Removing Kidd's unsalvageable limb was the simple part. It had to come off past the elbow, about half way up the bicep, but not all the way to the shoulder like Law feared. But it took him a good chunk of time to remove any signs of infection remaining in Kidd's body. When he was finally finished, Kidd's new stump was bandaged heavily, his other bandages were redone properly, and he was breathing easier, no longer on the brink of death. His _Room_ dissipated and exhaustion settled deep in his bones. He felt hands on his shoulders and didn't fight as he was pushed into a chair that must've been brought without him noticing. A turquoise-haired man – Heat, if he recalled correctly – handed him a glass of water, which he drained gratefully.

"Thank you, Trafalgar," Killer stated, echoes of similar phrases of gratitude rising from the other conscious crew members.

Law shook his head, offering a tired smile as he got to his feet once more. "Let me take a look at the rest of your crew." He might as well do his job while he could still stand under his own power.

* * *

In the end, Law was so exhausted that Killer refused to let him make the journey in the dark to his own ship, so he slept in the chair next to Kidd's bed. His dreams were filled with shadows from his past – his sister, screaming as she was burned alive; Corazon's dying gasps for breath as bullets sank into his chest; his own slowing heart beat pounding in his ears. When he woke, he was disorientated and felt like he was still trapped within his own mind. He couldn't breathe, his chest felt tight, until he realized that it was someone's arm around him, pulling him out of his chair. He began to panic, struggling lethargically, still tired from using his ability so much, and his strained wheezing sounded too loud to him.

"Dammit, Trafalgar...!" he heard as one of his limbs finally made contact with skin. He was released, left sprawled across something solid and something soft. A hand grabbed his jaw and turned his face until he was looking upon a pale face with burning red-orange eyes. "Hey," Kidd snapped. "Just breathe."  
Law struggled to do just that. When he was no longer in danger of passing out, he greed himself from Kidd's grasp and slid off of the medical bed (and Kidd himself). He slumped in his previous seat, watching Kidd adjust himself to get comfortable.

"...why did you help me?" the Heart Pirates' captain asked gruffly.

"Why did _you_ help _me_?" the redhead retorted, then continued, unfazed by Law's glare. "You saved my life. Think of it as a 'token of my gratitude'."

Law rolled his eyes. "I'm going back to my ship."

As he made his way to the door, Kidd mumbled something and he paused for just a moment before disappearing down the hall.

 _"Thank you, Trafalgar."_


	61. Dragonheart - Dragon x Sabo - 1

**Dragonheart**

* * *

 _(A/N: Medieval-ish AU)_

 _(A/N: Also, for Ivankov's accent, I was looking up how to write it besides the "Vi", and I ran into a thread discussion/argument over it, and so I decided to go with writing it like "Vi" and "Vyou" instead of "V'i" and "V'you" as a few people suggested. If you think I should do the latter version, let me know and I'll change them.))_

* * *

"Okay, that's enough, I forfeit," Sabo panted as he remained on one knee before Koala, his sparring partner for that evening, and mentally tallied that final point as hers. They were now tied with twenty-five wins each. (He wanted to go on to one-hundred matches like he used to with his brothers, but he knew Koala would never agree to that.)

Koala offered a hand and pulled him to his feet when he grabbed it. Both of their faces gleamed with sweat in the light of the burning torches on the walls of the courtyard. Koala picked up their hats from against one of the walls and tucked hers under her arm as she tossed him his.

"I'm going to bathe now," she announced. "Are you coming?"

Koala and Sabo had grown up together and it wasn't unusual for them to take baths together, mostly to help each other reach their backs.

"In a moment," Sabo said with a nod. "I'm going to do some cooling down stretches."

Koala playfully rolled her eyes, but turned to enter the base. Sabo turned away as well, reaching down to grip the bottom of his sweat-soaked shirt and pulling it up over his head. As he balled it up, ready to toss it aside for now, he heard a sharp gasp from behind him that made him jump - he thought Koala had left. He turned his head to look at her, but he caught sight of a darkening of his shoulder. He looked down at it, startled to find a odd bruise of sorts discoloring his pale skin. He didn't remember being struck there by Koala, but he must've been. Perhaps he hadn't noticed because of the adrenaline.

"You should let Iva- _chan_ check that out," Koala advised before she stepped inside.

* * *

Sabo prodded at the dark area, but it didn't hurt, so he shrugged it off and began his stretches. It would go away on its own, no doubt. He didn't visit Ivankov that night, or during any of the following weeks. He didn't take off his shirt around Koala at all when he realized it wasn't going away. It wasn't an issue.

It was turning into an issue. A few weeks after first discovering the coloration, Sabo was startled to find that there was something - many somethings - growing beneath his skin. They felt like cysts, sort of, but he was fairly certain that they were not because of the strange hue of his skin and the lack of pain when he put pressure on them. In fact, they itched like bug bites when he put on his clothes, but that was the end of it. He had to wear his suit jackets over his white shirts to conceal them, even during sparring sessions, because the blue was visible through the pale fabric and he didn't want anyone to worry about him. And besides the cyst-like bumps, the blue color was spreading from his shoulders and down his arms, across his collar, and likely around to his back as well. He didn't really get a chance to make an official decision on whether or not to talk to Ivankov before a flood of dragon reports came in.

The Revolutionaries were a group of mercenaries who helped knights of nearby and distant lands take down the dragon threats because they, unlike most, knew that the land's government and those who had power over it were sending the dragons to make a profit on the assistance that the lands must pay for. It was the duty of the Revolutionaries to make sure the dragon population didn't get too large to handle. It was a fairly busy job, but most dragons went into hibernation in the winter, so they got less calls during that time. It was only autumn at the moment, though, so they were still getting plenty of dragon killing done. One such case, one of the last ones of the autumn group, involved an older dragon - dragon ages were usually difficult to tell unless they were fledglings with shedding patches of scales that were paler than the other scales around them, or ancient ones whose very scales were falling out - and Sabo took a fallen scale as a souvenir. It was a nice shade of blue.

* * *

Sabo had come down with a fever. He'd never been sick before as a child, and only one time since then, when he was getting over his extreme bout of amnesia and remembered his brothers and past life.

"Sabo _-kun_!" Koala shouted, stomping her foot in frustration, fists clenched as if she was imagining clocking him upside the head, but not daring to because of his state. "You need to go to bed. You won't get better if you don't rest."

"She's right," Ivankov insisted, standing in front of the door leading outside, arms crossed tightly and chin lifted stubbornly. "Vyou're in no condition to be venturing outside the base!"

"But-"

"Sabo."

Sabo and Koala both whirled around like startled cats, much to the amusement of the okama behind them. Dragon looked stoic as ever, but to Ivankov, who had known him much longer than the two younger Revolutionaries, there were minuscule signs of concern.

"Sabo, the autumn season is over. You are to rest until you are well again," Dragon ordered. "Come. I will escort you back to your room."

Sabo's expression scrunched up, as if he were going to protest, but then he just sighed and dragged his feet as he came to Dragon's side and the two walked down the hall. As soon as they were out of sight, Koala let out a small huff.

"Sabo _-kun_ never listens to _me_ like that! I worry about him all the time!"

Her cheeks puffed out childishly and Ivankov laughs loudly, patting Koala's shoulder sympathetically.

* * *

Sabo felt a little better, talking to Dragon. Dragon had been away visiting family – his son, in fact, who was also one of Sabo's brothers – and had just returned the night before, apparently.

"I see you have been busy as well," Dragon commented, glancing over at Sabo. "Perhaps too busy. Maybe I should send you on less dragon cases..."

"What?! That's so unfair!"

Dragon's lips quirked just slightly, but Sabo caught it and realized he was being teased. He ducked his head, embarrassed by his juvenile outburst.

"I want you to at least have a few hours of sleep in you by dinner," Dragon ordered when they reached Sabo's room. "If you're still not feeling well, stay here and I will send someone with food."

"Okay." Sabo opened his door, then paused. "I'm glad you're back, Dragon _-san_."

* * *

Sabo ended up remaining in his room, motionless on his bed even after Inazuma stopped by to drop off a few plates of food. He just wasn't hungry, and he was extremely uncomfortable. It was too hot under the blankets, yet his body felt way too cold. And to make manners worse, his shoulders, where the cysts were, felt like they were on fire. And that was before the bleeding even began.

Sabo had just rolled onto his side, trying to get comfortable, and there was a sickening crunch from his shoulder. The pain increased tenfold and Sabo was quick to roll onto his back again, arching with a sharp gasp as even more agony flooded him and wet warmth made itself known. This went on for what seemed like hours, and when it was finally over, Sabo was shaking, no longer feeling like he was sick, but exhausted beyond belief. He climbed out of bed, fumbling for the low-lit lamp nearby, and once the room was bright enough for him to see properly, he approached the mirror on his wall, tearing off his shirt with great haste when he saw the fabric was stained red, darkest around his shoulders. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Dark blue, yet gleaming with a maroon tint, were scales, pushing right out of his skin like thorns from a rose stem. Taking a bath in the middle of the night to rid himself of the blood and burning the ruined shirt, Sabo pulled a scale from his skin with his bare hand (coated in Haki, of course).

The next day he took the scale – _his_ scale – to Kuma, who announced that he was impressed that Sabo found a scale from a fresh fledgling: a fledgling that had just reached adulthood. Sabo felt ill to his stomach.

* * *

Sabo was turning into a dragon. There was no mistaking the armor-like scales that were overlapping each other as they grew and spread across his skin, only absent around, ironically, the permanent burn scars in his skin, put there by a dragon when he was just a child. He supposed that dragon fire could burn through another dragon's scales.

Sabo was terrified. He didn't understand why this was happening, but there was no mistaking that it was. He wondered if he would be like the werebeasts in in myth, forced to change and become feral depending on the phase of the moon. He was afraid of being a danger to everyone he ever cared for. He had to tell someone, and who better to tell than Koala?

As far as his worries about her reactions went, she was taking it pretty well. All she'd done so far was gaze wide-eyed and drop-jawed at his bare torso, the upper half gleaming with cobalt blue scales while navy blue shading, not unlike the bruises he sometimes earned while sparring or fighting strong opponents, had risen to the the rest where scales had yet to grow. Sabo was a little nervous about what she'd do when she snapped out of her shock, but if she thought him a danger in the future, he knew she would not hesitate to take his life, and that is why he had brought this problem to light only for her.

"Oh Sabo-kun," she whispered, hand lifting so her fingers brushed over scales winding around the ragged burns on his arm, skimming over the gap where the scale he'd pulled out had been.

Sabo hadn't been sure what to feel up to this point, but the sympathy in her voice - no hatred, no disgust, just worry for a friend - made tears rise to his eyes, though he made an attempt to blink them away, an effort made fruitless when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"You'll be okay," she soothed as his body was wracked with sobs. "Everything will be fine."

He clung back to her as tightly as he dared as his tears stained her auburn* hair.

* * *

(A/N: *type of auburn is about a medium auburn from what I can tell. ^insert shrug)


	62. Say Cheese - Usopp x Sanji

Art was Usopp's passion. Ever since he was a little kid, he's just wanted his skills to be noticed and praised. His dying mother especially encouraged it and when she passed, it was all he had left. But then he made a new friend, Luffy, who was into photography, and the bother of them made a promise to shoot for the top of the art kingdom. He was absolutely determined to keep that promise! But first he had to pass college...

The Grandline College for the Arts was an amazing school. All kinds of artists gathered to go there. Usopp made new friends, too, mostly through Luffy. There was Zoro, who did ice and hedge sculptures. Franky did marble sculptures and dabbled in metal work, and Robin made art out of flowers. Chopper made his own due out of a wide variety of berries and other resources and made brilliant shirt designs. Of course, those weren't the only kind of art in the school. For example, Brook did music and Nami wrote stories alongside drawing detailed maps. Those two introduced him to someone into the culinary arts – the only man in that subject, currently: Sanji.

Usopp did a good amount of different arts, but he'd never been a good photographer. However, there was something about the passion that Sanji poured into his cooking that made Usopp's fingers itch do something other than sketching the blond's perfect legs or intense eyes. Plus, he needed a reference for future Sanji art besides sitting quietly at a distance and drawing from afar. Usopp asked Luffy to borrow his camera and it was passed over without question.

"What is this for again?" Sanji asked as he leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets.

Usopp hadn't expected Sanji to ask, but of course he would, and he scrambled for an answer.

"The subject for the photo has to be something we find beautiful," Usopp blurted out – a sort of half truth (with the last half being the true part).

He needn't worry about Sanji having an averse reaction, however, as the blond's face pinkened and a broad grin stretched across his face.

 _Click._


	63. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 1

**Day 1: _S_ ilence**

* * *

Peace, Law discovered, was not easy to come upon while on-board the Thousand Sunny. On the Polar Tang, Law's submarine, his nakama knew to leave him be when he went off on his own elsewhere on the ship. But the Strawhats had an irritating habit of not letting him soak in blessed silence. He was constantly being dragged into one rowdy event or another, usually by Luffy. His fellow captain and Supernova was especially insistent that Law join in fishing, dancing, or something equally stupid. Of course, Law always refused, but he could never prevent Luffy from getting him situated on the main deck where he could occasionally glance up and watch the others make fools of themselves. The only time Law got any solitary time was when they docked at an island and he volunteered to stay behind and keep an eye out for marines. Fortunately, he was usually allowed this brief respite, despite Luffy's whining about wanting to explore together.

During one such instance, Law was on his own for the whole day and as he watched the sun dip below the waves, he pondered the fact that he was both glad for a whole day to himself, yet strangely disappointed that he was going to be on his own for the night as well. While he liked his space, he'd always felt secure with the knowledge that there was someone nearby, that he wasn't completely alone. Not that he couldn't handle being on his own, he just wasn't sure how much sleep he would get. (His insomnia was much worse during his time on Punk Hazard than it has been aboard the Sunny.) He turned from where he was seated upon the Sunny's figurehead, only to feel his pulse spike when he realized there was someone on the swing, looking right at him. He calmed himself when he recognized the hat on their head.

"Luffy-ya," he sighed as he slid down the back of the figurehead. He was a little unnerved that he hadn't heard or detected the other captain's return, as well as the fact that Luffy hadn't spoken up to announce his presence.

"Are you done, Torao?" Luffy asked, perking up as Law crossed the grassy deck to stand in front of him. "I know you like to be on your own a lot, but I didn't want you to spend the night alone, because you don't sleep when you do."

And Law, not for the first time, was struck by how observant the younger man was.

"You could've joined me," Law finally muttered. "I didn't mean to take your seat." However, he could now understand why Luffy loved that spot so much. It had a nice view, as if you could see forever in every direction.

"It's okay!" Luffy chirped as he jumped to his feet, pulling Law into a very unwanted hug. (Or perhaps only semi-unwanted.) "You looked so peaceful," he continued in a soft voice. "I didn't want to ruin that."

If Law wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of wistfulness in Luffy's tone. He rested a hand on the other's wild hair, causing bright brown eyes to focus on his face.

"You wouldn't have ruined anything, Luffy-ya. You..." He paused – he never much liked encouraging Luffy's antics, but while his mindset still categorized Luffy as an ally only, his heart had other ideas. "You would only make it better."

Luffy's smile was blinding and Law relished in the wave of elation that coursed through him at the knowledge that he brought that grin to Luffy's face.


	64. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 2

**Day 2: Terminal**

* * *

Law had only caught a glimpse of him across the quaint little coffee shop he stopped at every morning before he was due to be at the hospital the day it began. He was impossible to miss with his straw hat, loud voice and even louder laugh, and unbuttoned shirt. He was surrounded by equally unusual people, yet before Law could turn away, those dark brown eyes darted to his and an impossibly wide smile stretched tan cheeks and scrunched up the obvious scar under the left eye before the boy's attention was recaptured by his friends. The glance left a weird feeling in his chest and a tickle built in the back of his throat. As he left the ship, very pointedly avoiding looking at the boy's table, he had to pause outside the door to couch into his fist. As he pulled his hand away, he found two lavender petals stuck to his fingers. His watch beeped and he wiped the petals away to ponder later as he hurried to be on time for his long shift. Later that night – or early the next morning, for some people – with two stressing heart surgeries under his belt, all thoughts of the petals had long since been wiped from his mind.

* * *

A week later found one Monkey D. Luffy on Law's surgery table. He vaguely recognized the boy, not that it effected his efficiency in putting the wrecked chest cavity back together. There were many moments in which Law thought he'd lost his patient, bu Luffy proved to be very stubborn and clung to life. It was the most difficult surgery Law had ever had to do, but in the end, Luffy was safe. The relief Law felt was almost staggering and he had to excuse himself as the straw hatted boy was moved to the ICU. He felt queasy and thought he would be sick – he's never felt nauseous after a surgery before, but there was a first for everything – but he was struck by a coughing fit instead. He doubled over a sink in the bathroom he'd retreated to and hacked until he could breathe again. The white sink was layered with purple petals that he scooped up and tossed into the trash.

Later, in the safe isolation of his apartment, he researched his unusual symptoms, but all that kept popping up was ridiculous nonsense about unrequited love. He tossed his laptop aside in frustration and decided that he would just deal with whatever mysterious illness he was stuck with until it passed.

* * *

It didn't pass. In fact, it only seemed to get worse as his friendship with Luffy developed. Luffy, after six months of absence, dropped back into Law's life and refused to leave. He was determined to befriend Law and for some reason, the surgeon couldn't say no. But as they grew closer, their friendship growing stronger than any bond Law had ever made with previous friends, Law got sicker and sicker. He was near constantly coughing up petals by the end of the day and it was no longer just purple petals, but blue ones. And as his friendship with Luffy threatened to bloom into something more (something he'd been afraid to allow with previous men he'd known), he was beginning to think that the results he'd gotten for his disease were right.

* * *

Around the time that the petals began coming out specked with blood, Luffy began suspecting that something was wrong.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Luffy asked as they sat at the public pool (despite Law's reservations about being somewhere where kids were prone to urinating in the water), their feet submerged because neither could swim.

Law knew he was pale, perhaps as pale as he had been as a child with an almost-terminal disease. "Yeah." He cleared his throat – he'd been fairly successful at not coughing up petals around Luffy. "Just under the weather."

Luffy frowned, obviously not believing him, but they went through their day together and Luffy walked Law home, as always. Law wasn't able to prevent himself from coughing as they mounted the steps of the building, however, and in the dim light, he saw that the petals were coated almost completely with blood. Luffy grabbed his hand before he could hide them, giving Law a stern look.

"You're not okay!" he accused with a loud voice. "I knew it!"

Law hushed him, too tired to be irritated, and allowed Luffy to come up with him to his room. (Not that Luffy would've let him just go in by himself like nothing was wrong.) They sat on the couch together and Law told Luffy about how the disease began and spread, only interrupted once by more petals and blood.

"So it's my fault..." Luffy mumbled dejectedly.

"No, Luffy-ya-"

"But I'll find out how to fix it!" he added with an expression of complete determination.

Law shook his head – he was sure that there was no cure, and he hadn't been able to find one, no matter how far he dug into the internet – but didn't bother protesting because once Luffy's mind was made up, there was usually no talking him out of it. Luffy ended up staying the night, but the next day he took off soon after Law was up, but not before forcing Law to call in for a few days off.

* * *

"Torao!"

Law flinched as his door slammed open and he began coughing, almost unable to stop. He was lightheaded when he finally managed to calm himself and Luffy was gripping his shoulders tightly, looking very concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," Law croaked. His chest felt too tight and his lungs burned. His throat felt clogged and scratchy, as if he had rose thorns digging into it. But he didn't want to worry Luffy any more than he had been for the last week.

Luffy gave him a stern look, obviously able to tell that he was lying, but shook his head and sat next to him, expression clearing to one of excitement.

"I know how to cure you!"

Law was stunned. "Wha-"

"Robin and Chopper helped me search and Robin found a really old book that had a disease in it that was described just like yours. It said that it was caused by love that wasn't returned." Luffy looked sad for a moment, but was grinning cheerfully the next. "So all we have to do is have whoever you like kiss you!"

Law felt like his lungs had been overtaken by the petals. He could hardly breathe.

"So," Luffy continued, "who is it? Kidd? He's kind of a jerk, though, isn't he? How about Smoker? Or Pen-"

"Luffy-ya, it's none of them," Law sighed. "Isn't there any other way to cure me?"

"Well...Chopper suggested surgery, but it's very dangerous," Luffy explained. "And you'll lose all your feelings towards whoever you like."

Law wasn't sure what was worse – to have his feelings rejected by Luffy and die (because he knew he would die if he didn't do something about it) or to have the disease and feelings for Luffy removed and feel dead inside. Law noticed Luffy staring at him with more of a focused expression than he'd ever seen on the hyperactive teen.

"Torao... It's me, isn't it?"

Law wasn't sure what gave it away – was he looking at Luffy while pondering his options? While wondering if death would be better than to lose what he and Luffy had? He didn't reply and Luffy seemed to take his silence as an answer because he nodded decisively.

"Alright." Then the seriousness melted away to make way for the excitement Luffy usually reserved for a large meal. "Good!"

Law felt like his mind was short-circuiting, and he hardly reacted as Luffy's hands moved from his shoulders to his face. He felt his breath catch as Luffy moved closer but before he could begin coughing, Luffy's lips were on his own and not only did he feel like he could breathe clearly for the first time in two years, but he felt like maybe he would be alright with being in a relationship with Luffy as opposed to just a friendship.


	65. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 3

**Day 3: Recherché**

 _ **Definition: "carefully chosen, rare or exotic"; as in, that's how Luffy views Law. :3**_

* * *

Luffy had been Pirate King for ten years to date. He found it silly how some people romanticized him simply because he had a "title change." He was still Monkey D. Luffy, Supernova and captain of the Strawhat pirates; son of Revolutionary leader Dragon and grandson of marine Hero Garp and step-child of bandit leader Dadan; brother of the late Portgas D. Ace, son of the original Pirate King, and Sabo, Chief of Staff of the revolutionary Army. He was still a moron to his crew (he was referred to as such affectionately, of course) and he was still a very wanted pirate with 750 million belis on his bounty when he last checked. And most importantly, he was still taken.

Luffy was by no means tied down by his relationship, even if that was what a lot of pirates thought would happen if they dared to wed someone from another crew, especially if that "someone" was another captain. In fact, he wore the simple gold band Torao had gotten him on a chain around his neck quite proudly, and he knew Law kept his own silver band on the ring finger of his right hand. Their relationship wasn't really public knowledge – Luffy only boasted to all of his friends about how lucky he was that he had Torao's heart (sometimes literally, when he can convince Law to swap their hearts before they parted ways for who-knew-how-long). Luffy wanted to make it officially official, though, which was why he was throwing a huge party to celebrate the day he became Pirate King. He'd contacted all his friends, mostly through Sabo so the Den Den Mushi transmissions weren't tracked by the marines, and even managed to get the message to Coby and his blond friend – Helm-something. He was so excited. And he even did it all on his own while his nakama, who he collected from their various break locations (Sanji from the All-Blue, Brook from the Twin Capes, and Vivi from Alabasta; the rest remained on the Sunny with him almost all the time), worked out the location and preparations for the party itself. He contacted Law last, just so he could spend the longest time on the Snail with him.

"A party?" Law repeated, sounding somewhat amused and somewhat like he'd rather be sleeping. "I don't have time to partake in your foolish activities."

Luffy pouted. "But Toraooo..."

"What are you celebrating, anyway?"

The Pirate King grinned broadly. "Well, it's supposed to be for becoming the Pirate King-"

"Again," Law chuckled.

"-but to me, it's for us."

Law was silent for a moment and Luffy briefly wondered if Law had simply hung up on him or fell asleep. Both were probable and had happened many times.

"Us?"

Law's voice was softer this time, and Luffy hadn't thought he could smile any wider, but many things were possible when he was made of rubber and in love with such a wonderful person.

"Yep! I'm gonna make sure everyone knows that Torao's mine, and I'm his, and they can spread the word so I stop getting love messages in the newspaper!" He huffed softly when Law merely laughed at him.

"Alright, Luffy-ya. Where is this party gonna be?"

* * *

With the week-long celebration beginning, Luffy was hardly able to sit still. He went from eating food to hugging friends and nakama he hadn't seen in a long time (like Jinbe and Coby and Gaimon) to sitting on the edge of the Island of Rare Animals, awaiting Law's arrival. When he finally did arrive, Luffy was shocked to see that his boyfriend was covered in bandages, as well as most of the other members of his crew.

"Torao! What happened?" Luffy demanded, wrapping his arms around Law, but loosening his hold when the older man grunted in pain.

"I'm fine," he assured Luffy, patting his head – though he was hardly able to do that as easily as ten years prior; Luffy had grown taller, almost catching up to Law, who had stopped growing around the same time that the events of Sabaody had occurred. "We had a run-in with some marines. They were a little more difficult to fend off than we anticipated."

Luffy frowned, pursing his lips, but let the subject drop because he knew that Law wouldn't give him anything else like, oh, perhaps the name of the marine captain who was leading the attack. He made a note to ask Bepo or Penguin about it. He shook his head and led Law towards where the party was taking place, a smile appearing on his face at the sight of his friends having so much fun and getting along (for the most part).

* * *

The week had gone great. Luffy didn't get to spend the whole time with Law, but he always caught sight of his boyfriend talking and smiling with Zoro or Chopper and he felt a swell of affection every time. If he wasn't busy hanging out with someone at the time, he often swooped over to give Law a quick kiss on the head or cheek or lips. He immensely enjoyed seeing Law's cheeks redden before the older captain hid behind his hat. At the end of the week, with most of his friends having set sail already to get back on their adventures (and to spread the news, as Luffy had gotten everyone to agree to), Luffy finally found time to spend all day with Law. Mostly it was spent laying across Law's lap while he read or sitting side-by-side with Law and listening to his adventures while recalling some of his own, and some of their old ones together, too, or sleeping against Bepo with him. At the end of the day, with just the two of them shut in the library and everyone else asleep on the ships or hanging out on the island, Luffy was sprawled across the long seat in front of the aquarium, Law resting against him. Luffy's hat was on Law head, askew because Law had his head on Luffy's shoulder, and as the Heart pirate captain slept, Luffy watched him.

Law had gone with a short-sleeved shirt, not something he did often after he got the bandages removed from his right arm. Luffy traced one of the hearts on Law's shoulder and gently drew his fingers over the rough scar on Law's right arm, where Doflamingo had removed the limb. Dull anger burned in Luffy's heart, but he had taken care of Doflamingo, so he pushed the rage aside. He could bring it back out when he finally asked one of Law's nakama to give him the name of the marine captain that had hurt him. Law had a lot of smaller scars, most of which Luffy knew the story of, some of which Law couldn't even remember. There were some on his forearms, from his wrists to his elbows, that were the oldest ones he had, but he refused to talk about them, so Luffy dropped the subject. It didn't matter, as long as Torao was okay now.

"What are you doing, Luffy-ya?" Law mumbled.

His eyes were still closed, breathing still calm, but he was obviously awake again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Shishishi!"

Law's lips turned up in a smile as he finally opened his eyes. He didn't look as tired as usual; Luffy had made sure he got plenty of sleep during the week. Law situated himself so he was propped on his elbows and facing Luffy, fixing the straw hat atop his head. His hands folded across Luffy's scarred chest. Luffy's eyes locked onto the gleam of silver and he grabbed Law's hand, running a thumb over the metal band. His own ring sat on his collarbone, light as air yet noticeable all the same. Luffy brought Law's hand to his lips, brushing a kiss over his tattooed fingers. He was very much interested in the blush that extended from Law's neck to his ears and pressed another kiss to his partner's knuckles before reaching up and cupping Law's face, tugging him into a kiss that was returned. Law was smiling into the kiss and Luffy couldn't help it as he beamed once it ended and Law settled back down.

"I love you, Torao," he mumbled into Law's dark hair.

"Mm... I love you, too, Luffy-ya."


	66. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 4

**Day 4: Achromatic**

* * *

It was a common joke among Luffy's friends that he would never step foot into a library, and he honestly hadn't intended to do anything of that sort. He had better things to do, actual adventures to find, than reading about them in books. Yet there he was, deep within the cathedral-sized library. It was all thanks to his gut. Luffy was a big fan of following his instincts, so when he was passing by the large building on his way to meet up with Chopper and Usopp for lunch and he felt like he had to go inside, he listened. He didn't know what he was looking for, though, until he saw _him_.

He was a tall man – even taller than Luffy's brothers, but not as tall as Brook or Franky –, putting books away on high shelves, but that's not what caught Luffy's attention. No, this stranger, whoever he was, was surrounded by a seemingly perpetual cloud of grey – literally. Luffy couldn't spot a speck of color on him; he was completely greyscale and the air (or color itself) seemed to ripple around him with every movement he made. The section of floor he was standing on was grey beneath his feet and the books he came into contact with had patches of white on their colorful covers. Luffy decided that he wanted to talk to him.

* * *

Law had been born with monochromacy – he was completely colorblind. And that didn't bother him too much as a child, but by the age of thirteen, after losing his parents to a car accident, he began his spiral into depression and wished he was normal like his sister, Lami. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He could only associate the idea of "blue" with the smell of the ocean, "green" with the sound of leaves rustling in a breeze, and "orange" with physical pain. He's mostly recovered from his depression, after being to counseling for years (and he still went, just less often), but he still preferred to be left alone, which was why he worked at a library.

"Hello!"

But of course, he had to help the occasional patron looking for specific books. He turned with a book in hand, but his customer-friendly greeting got trapped in his throat as all his senses were overwhelmed. His eyes were properly registering what he was seeing, but his brain sorted it out for him. The taste of strawberries was heavy on his tongue (the boy's shirt was "red"), waves pounded in his ears, ("dark blue" pants), and he could feel sunlight and smell dirt (tan skin and brown eyes). But it wasn't the stimuli he got that stunned him, because that always happened, but Law could _see_ the colors his senses were screaming at him. Somehow this boy, this complete stranger, wasn't black or white or grey, but in full color and it was impossible to describe.

Law hadn't realized that he'd dropped the book until it was offered to him by the boy and when he took it back, he was on the receiving end of a toothy grin.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy."

Luffy offered a sunkissed hand and Law accepted it after a brief pause, momentarily taken aback by how warm this chromatic person was, but even more so by how everything suddenly was flooded with colors. Luffy was pleasantly surprised when Law filled with colors; his clothes were black and white, but his skin was tan and his eyes were gold like a sunset.

"Trafalgar Law."

When they released hands, the grey they previously saw came flooding back, and while Luffy wanted to stay, he did have to go before lunch was over, but he promised himself that he'd be back, especially when he noticed that the grey around Law seemed darker, more turbulent as he left. It wouldn't do for his newest nakama to be swallowed by shadows when Luffy could do something about it. With that thought, he ran off to find Chopper and Usopp, excited, for the first time, to visit a library soon. Wouldn't Sabo be proud

* * *

 **((A/N: Alright, a couple things. One: I would like to note that I was hinting at Law having synesthesia. It's probably not super obvious, but since I don't have it myself, I didn't know hoe exactly to describe it. Bear with me, please! Also, this is sort of a Soulmate AU, where you have to be in contact with your soulmate to see color, but it applies more to Law than Luffy. Yeah.))**


	67. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 5

**Day 5: Wish**

* * *

 **(A/N: Honestly, so much more thought was put into this one than any of the others. I think it may be my favorite. You guys are gonna love this.)**

* * *

 _ **One day someone is going to hug you so tight that all of your broken pieces will stick back together. - Anonymous**_

* * *

 _DEATH_. Law had it tattooed across his fingers for a reason, and it wasn't because he has a reputation as the Surgeon of Death. No, his epithet had nothing to do with it. He had his tattoos long before that became his title. He got them because Death seemed to follow him everywhere. It began with the genocide of everyone in his home, Flevance, and with the death of his family. At that time, he hadn't really thought too much about the fact that the Reaper had taken a shining to watching him suffer. All he knew was that from then on, he would make everyone hurt as much as he did. _They would all pay!_ It wasn't until he lost Corazon that he realized that getting close to someone, _loving_ someone, marked their souls to be taken prematurely because he didn't deserve happiness, he didn't deserve love, he didn't deserve _anything_.

Perhaps someone would argue that he couldn't possibly be cursed like that because he had his nakama, and he certainly loved them very much. And he couldn't even deny that. Each and every loyal member of his crew was someone he'd personally chosen because he found that he liked them very much. Not as much as, say, his long-gone younger sister or Cora-san, but much more than he cared for the people he doctored out of the "goodness of his heart" before he'd set foot in the Grandline. However, Law had learned his lesson long before meeting his first three friends – Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi – and he worked furiously to protect them. He made sure they knew how to defend themselves against him; if they could do that, they could efficiently hold their own against even the strongest opponents. He put his faith in them to survive. But the love he held for them was also different from the love he held for Corazon and the people he'd known as a child, so he put that down as the reason they hadn't yet left him (as well as the fact that they were all too stubborn to give up, just like him).

Then there was Luffy. Law didn't know why he went out of his way to save his fellow Supernova. No, scratch that – he knew Luffy would've been very useful to him in the future if the young, strong teen owed him his life. However, that didn't completely cement his decision. In fact, it was almost like Law was drawn to Luffy, especially after the impressive display in which the Straw Hat captain had boldly punched a Celestial Dragon to avenge one of his friends. Loyalty was an important factor in Law's life, even if he was well-known for his deceit. He blamed the epithet. Anyway, Law hadn't expected to encounter Luffy in the New World, and certainly not on Punk Hazard. The younger man hadn't really been slotted into Law's plans for revenge until after he took out Caesar Clown, and even then, Law hadn't wanted to drag Luffy into Doflamingo's path. That was why he tried to break off the alliance. Because he was beginning to care. But maybe, just maybe, Death would come for him instead of the one he cared for.

 _"I'll make those decisions, not you, so shut your mouth!"_ Luffy had screamed at him when he tried to make him leave.

Law had been too stunned to argue, despite how much he despised being ordered around, and in the end, Law had been closer to Death than Luffy. Yet he survived, and it was all thanks to Luffy. And it happened again and again. Law was no weakling, but compared to Luffy, he might as well have been, not only physically, but emotionally too. Luffy didn't care about any of that. Whether it was fighting against a Yonko or dealing with the demons of Law's past that tried to drag him down, _down,_ _ **down**_ , Luffy was there with a smile to make everything better, make everything okay.

* * *

 _ **So why wasn't everything okay right now?**_

* * *

Blood. There was so much blood. _Why was there so much blood?_ It was on the ground, it was on Law – sliding down his jaw like tears –, it was... It was on Luffy. It was coming _from_ Luffy. Luffy, who made Law's day a little brighter, his breathing a little steadier, his heartbeat a little faster, his life a little easier to live. Luffy, was a bundle of energy and idiocy and endless ambition, whose hat had fallen to the ground in front of Law. Luffy, who had a very large blade through his chest. A chilling gurgle escaped his throat before he coughed and Law could only imagine the amount of blood that just came out with that simple action. His "doctor side" was screaming at him, telling him to move – he had to staunch the blood, use his ability, open Luffy up and sew his perforated organs back together, but he couldn't move. All he could do was remain on his knees, arms limp by his sides. He couldn't remember how it got to this point. He couldn't even remember the large man's name – he was related to Whitebeard or something? – or why he felt so weak, and at this point, he didn't care.

"T-T'rao..."

Luffy's head turned slightly and Law felt himself pale at the blood that coated his mouth and chin and throat. Yet Luffy smiled, a weaker smile than his usual grins, but a smile nonetheless, even when he was so obviously dying.

"I won't let them hurt you anymore."

He was hurt? At that moment, pain wracked Law's body and it seemed to be originating from his arm, and not the one that he had temporarily lost on Dressrosa that still sent him phantom pains. He glanced at it briefly – that's right, the freakish man's insane mother shot him, seastone. No wonder his bones felt like lead. When he looked back at Luffy, his heart just about stopped. Because Strawhat was on the ground and the blade was being lifted to make a finishing blow. The fingers of Law's left hand curled and he found that the handle of Kikoku was in his grip the whole time. As he struggled to lift the blade, he could almost imagine the darkly cloaked figure of Death standing over Luffy, waiting for his time to end – prematurely, like the lives of those Law had _loved_ – but he wouldn't let it happen this time. His blade flashed through the air and suddenly he was surging forward, on his feet once more, even as his knees threatened to send him crashing into the ground again.

" _Room_!"

 _I won't let him be taken from me,_ Law thought.

It had been two weeks since that day. Law had recovered from the ordeal he and his ally had gone through (mentally, not really physically or emotionally). Luffy was still comatose, but Law, with the help of Chopper, had fixed him as best as he could. The rest was up to Luffy. Was he strong enough to fend off the Reaper? Law wasn't one to make wishes upon stars – that childish belief left with his sister's life. But as he eyed the only star that broke through the sheet of clouds above, he couldn't help but...wish.

 _Please..._

* * *

When Luffy woke up, he was sore and tired and parched, but he was alive, and he was kind of surprised about that. He hadn't planned on dying, of course, but sometimes plans got thrown off course. That's why Luffy wondered why Law spent so much time pla-

 _ **Law!**_

Luffy bolted upwards, head spinning as his stomach growled, and he clutched at it. Looking down, he found flawless skin beneath his fingers – except the scar he'd gotten during Marineford, of course. No, there was a long, thin scar, much fainter than the burn, extending from the center of his chest to about the middle of his stomach. He had to look closely to see it. The blade he'd gotten stabbed with definitely would've made that scar, but it should've been worse; the fact that it wasn't let Luffy know that Law was okay. At least, okay enough to help Luffy.

 _What if he used the immortal thingy Mingo wanted him for?_

"Luffy?!"

The choked squeak had Luffy turning his head to find Chopper standing in the doorway, fur an absolute mess and tears flooding from his eyes.

"LUFFY!"

The reindeer wailed as he launched himself onto Luffy's lap and hugged him as tightly as he could. It was only a few minutes later that he was surrounded by the rest of his nakama as well, having a combination of scolding and crying and smiles and hands on him. He even got hugs from Zoro and Sanji. It must've been really bad. His stomach growled again in the middle of this and Sanji revealed a large plate of meat he'd been bringing in to see if Luffy would sleep eat, apparently. He was about halfway through the plate when he abruptly realized that he hadn't see Law. He swallowed everything he'd stuffed into his mouth.

"Where is Torao?" he asked.

His nakama exchanged glances, looking uneasy, and Luffy feared the worse for a moment before he reminded himself angrily that Law wasn't weak – he couldn't be dead.

"He's fine," Nami finally said, confirming his thoughts and causing relief to spread through him. "He's sleeping. He's been sleeping a lot."

"He'll be happy to see you're awake and well," Robin added with a soft smile, and though there was still a lingering tension amongst his crew, all he needed to know was that Law was alive and well.

As soon as he finished eating (going through three more plates that Sanji insisted that he'd need to make up for two weeks of missed meals), he impatiently sat through examinations from Chopper until he was finally cleared as healthy as ever. He left the infirmary as soon as the words left Chopper's mouth and he headed directly for the Observation Room, where Zoro mentioned that Law has been going to every night. He pulled himself up by stretching his hands to the last rung and pulled himself up, almost hitting his head on the door. He pushed it open and crawled in.

He spotted Law immediately despite the shadows of the late night, curled up on the cushions, close to one of the windows, with his sword laying across his shoulder as always. Luffy's straw hat, which he hadn't even realized he'd been missing, was held loosely in Law's hand and Law's jacket was nowhere in sight. When Luffy approached, he was concerned with how dark the bags under Law's eyes were again – he'd just started getting a semi-normal sleeping cycle – and the expression of anguish on his face. He reached out to touch Law's shoulder, to wake him gently like he does when Law has nightmares, but the other captain's eyes open suddenly and he's sent sprawling with a rough shove. Before he can get up or say anything, a knee is being pressed into his chest and an angry demon blade – it's hissing at him, he can hear it – is at his throat. He wants to assure Law, to calm the fear and anger in his eyes, but only a croak escapes as his eyes adjust to the dark, with help from the moonlight, and he see what Law's jacket might've hidden for a time if it'd been on. Law's arm was _gone_. No, not the whole thing. Just above where the bullet had entered from that crazy lady, partway down his bicep.

"...Luffy-ya?"

Law's voice was so soft that Luffy almost hadn't caught it, but he had and he didn't miss how it cracked. Law's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Torao," the younger captain breathed. "Your... Your arm...!"  
He sat up as Law shifted to sit on the floor and released his grip on his sword, which clattered to the floor beside him. Tears were sliding down Law's face, but he wasn't making a single noise. Luffy got onto his knees, moving closer, invading that privacy that Law held so tightly to, yet the other didn't protest. Luffy pulled Law against him, rubbing his back, and Law rested his head on Luffy's shoulder, trembling as soft sobs broke through his lips and his remaining arm wrapped around Luffy in returned, clinging to him almost desperately. Clouds covered the moon, shrouding the two in darkness, but that was okay because they had each other and they weren't going to let go any time soon.

"Torao," Luffy whispered into the shadows, leaning his forehead against Law's and grinning. " _I love you._ "

And Luffy could hear the smile in Law's voice as he replied, " _I love you, too_."

* * *

 **(A/N: So I made it so that this takes place after they took out Big Mom and got Sanji back, and defeated Kaido, but definitely before Luffy's the Pirate King.)**


	68. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 6

_**Day 6 - (Healing) Hello**_

 _ **((prompt: When was the last time you got lost?))**_

 **A/N: Law is a twenty-six year old college student with hemeralopia, a condition also known as day blindness; he could see normally in dim light and at night, but any time when the sun is up, he might as well have been completely blind. Luffy is a octopus merman who is halolimnic; he's unable to breath in salt water, but he can in fresh water, so he occupies lakes that are connected by a series of underground-underwater tunnels that all end at the ocean.**

* * *

Law was lost. He was completely unaware of his current location or where his original destination was in relation to it. Bepo, his young Samoyed, was sniffing around his feet and being altogether unhelpful. And he was usually such a good seeing-eye dog. Law really didn't want to start off his break from college lost in the woods. (He knew it was the woods or some kind of forested area because he could hear the leaves rustling in the breeze and he also clipped his shoulder again a tree, which was his first indication that he was not where he was supposed to be).

"Bepo, home," Law ordered for what had to be the dozenth time, tugging lightly on the thin leash, but whatever scent his dog had picked up must've been really interesting, because he was determined to keep going further into the unknown.

Law had gotten up early just to get home and surprise his foster father, Corazon, but it looked like he'd be a bit late. It was a bright day out, so he couldn't just lead Bepo back out of the area, because while the trees offered some shade, all he could make out was one large blur of brown all around him and it was disorientating. So he had to close his eyes and let Bepo guide him to where he wanted to go. At least the white mass of fur was still making sure Law wasn't tripping over stones or slamming face-first into thick trunks. When they finally stopped, Law could hear the squelching of mud beneath his shoes. The leash was pulled sharply by Bepo as he lunged forward and as soon as Law heard the splash of water, he released the only link between him and his friend.

"Are you trying to drown me?" he huffed, walking carefully around the edge as Bepo happily swam in what had to be a lake or pond. When he found a dry spot, he slowly lowered himself, patting for any sharp stones or irritating twigs before settling down. He could hear the water lapping against the shore a few inches from him, and he had to admit, it was peaceful. Maybe when the sun set, or whenever he could see, he would mark down how to get to this place from the college and from Corazon's house so he could have a nice place to study or just get away from everything when he was stressed.

Bepo eventually got out of the water and trotted over to Law, who quickly got to his feet and tried to move away before he could get water shaken onto him - he didn't want to smell like dog for the rest of the day. It didn't work. He glared in Bepo's direction as the Samoyed panted happily, then he tugged off his shirt.

"Fine, I'll come swimming with you."

What that meant was that he'd sit in the shallowest part of the lake he could without Bepo trying to push him further. He was absolutely abysmal when it came to swimming because he'd never grown up where it was a necessary skill to know. He kicked off his shoes and peeled his socks off as well before rolling up the legs of his pants. Bepo went splashing into the water again, barking, and Law shushed him.

"You're going to draw attention to us," he warned.

He didn't know if this was someone's property and he'd rather not get in trouble when he couldn't run for it. He carefully waded into the water until it came to his knees, and it wasn't too cold, but cold enough to make goosebumps rise on his skin. His vision went from blurred to nonexistent at this point, however, since the water was far from the shade and directly under the sun. He took a few steps further; he would stop at waist-deep water and sit, and back up until the water only reached his shoulders. However, suddenly the lake bottom wasn't there and Law, leaning his weight into his next step, couldn't back up before he went plunging into the water. Despite how few articles of clothing he had on, he found himself sinking like an anchor. He could hear muffled barking above him and the further he sunk, the clearer his vision was, until black began creeping in from the sides and whatever air he had in his lungs escaped in a cloud of bubbles. After that, he simply passed out.

* * *

 _Woah, a new visitor! I haven't had one since Brook! He's not a very good swimmer… Shishishi, he reminds me of Chopper and Robin and Brook when they first came here! ...wait… **Ah! He's drowning! Hang on, I'll help you!**_

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was laying on the shore and dry. Bepo was laying next to him, and when he saw him open his eyes, he let out a whine and crawled closer on his stomach, licking at Law's cheek. Law was too tired to push him away, trying to clear his muddled mind before he realized that it was dark out and he could clearly see Bepo's white fur in the moonlight, as well as the still surface of the lake, and he remembered drowning. He sat up quickly and pulled himself further from the shore. Bepo followed him, tail wagging slowly. Law's clothes were where he left them, so he got to his feet, taking a moment to make sure he was steady on his feet before he got dressed and snagged Bepo's leash, unhooking it and letting his dog walk beside him as he left the clearing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to come back after his near-death experience, but he was fairly certain that Bepo hadn't been the one to pull him from the water and he wanted to know what did.

He made it to Corazon's house in a few hours, so he estimated the lake's whereabouts to be the same distance from the college as well. Corazon was very glad to see him; he'd been worried, that's why he was up still when it was almost midnight. They said their goodnights and the next day, Law spent time with him, but after the sun fell, after Corazon went to bed, Law left with Bepo to return to the lake.

* * *

It was as calming as before in the clearing. Bepo didn't take off to try and swim this time, remaining by Law's side as he approached the lake. He gazed out across the still surface of the water, luminous in the moonlight. He took off his shirt, shoes, and socks and set them aside.

"Stay Bepo," he ordered before walking into the water.

His drowning session was still fresh on his mind, but he knew that the drop was somewhere before the water reached his waist, so once it was up to his knees, he sat and slide forward cautiously, legs extended. Once his feet stopped brushing the bottom of the water, which was about shoulder-height while he was sitting, he ducked his head underwater. The sight of the deep black depths sent chills down his spine and he fervently hoped he wouldn't have to drop into the dark to find whatever had saved him. As it turned out, he didn't.

" **Oh, you're back!"**

The voice was strange. It seemed to be echoing through the water around him, but at the same time, it sounded like it was in his head. Then a form darted out of the shadows towards him and he flinched back. He began pulling himself back towards the shore when something cold and pliant wrapped around his ankle and he was suddenly yanked underwater. He flailed blindly for a moment, panicking, even when he felt human(oid) hands settling on his shoulders.

" **Hey, stop doing that! I'll drop you!"**

He wasn't sure if that was a threat or merely a statement, but he stopped, and as the bubbles stirred by his frantic movements died down, he found himself face to face with brown eyes and a broad grin.

" **Shishishi, that's better!"**

Law did a quick assessment of this...creature. His top half was a normal human - tan skin (not as dark as Law's), black hair, a scar on his cheek… But from waist down, he was an octopus. He had eight long, dark red tentacles, one of which was wound around one of his calves. A merman? But that was impossible; they were creatures of myth. Law would've loved to debate about this some more, but at that moment, his lungs burned and he really needed air. He kicked his legs weakly and the merman frowned in confusion for a moment before his eyes lit up.

" **Oh yeah! You humans can't breath underwater! You're so weird~"**

Law scowled, but the creature ignored him, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him to the surface. Once they broke through the water, Law gasped for breath, coughing. He could hear Bepo barking loudly, but he obediently remained beside the water instead of going in.

"Hello!" the merman called over to Bepo, then looked at Law with another grin. "I forgot! I'm Luffy; Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Trafalgar Law." What was the harm of giving his name to a mythical creature? It's not like he could really use it against him...could he?

Law hadn't realized they were moving until his legs and hands brushed against the "shallows" of the lake. As he situated himself to sit on the edge of the drop, Luffy pulled on a straw hat Law hadn't noticed hanging around his neck by a string.

"So, Torao, why did you get back into the water if you can't swim?" Luffy asked bluntly. "I don't meet a lot of stupid humans, but you and Zoro seem to share similar mindsets. Except Zoro got lost and walked right into the lake on accident somehow."

Law personally thought that this Zoro person was more foolish than himself - who accidentally walked into a lake?

"I mean, if you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was call my name."

"I didn't know your name," the human replied flatly.

"Oh yeah! Shishishi!"

Law wondered briefly how old this childish merman was, but then decided it didn't matter. He got what he came for. He stood up and grimaced at the temperature difference between the water and the air.

"Thank you for saving my life, Mugiwara-ya."

He turned to walk to shore, only to nearly faceplant as a tentacle wrapped around his leg and pulled. He shot an irritated look towards Luffy, who was giving him a pleading expression.

"Are you going to come back and visit?"

"Why?"  
"Well…" Luffy's grip loosened. "I'm all alone here. Chopper says I'm halo-ic and that's why I can't live in the ocean with my brother and friends."

 _Halolimnic,_ Law's mind provided from when he was researching different kinds of fish with his friend, Sanji, who was taking culinary classes. _A sea creature who's adapted to fresh water._

He wondered how that happened, but he was sure Luffy didn't have an answer either.

"Fine, I'll come back," Law decided. "But I can't come back every day. I have school. Okay?"

Luffy nodded eagerly, releasing Law and grinning. "See ya later!"

Then he disappeared into the depths of the lake and the surface of the water stilled once more as Law reached shore. He began to get dressed, eyeing the lightening horizon warily. He hadn't realized he was out so late. He whistled for Bepo, who was standing at the edge of the lake still, to join him as he reentered the woods. He had to admit, he had never had anything so exciting happen to him. Meeting a real life merman…it almost felt like a dream. He'd just have to visit again to make sure it wasn't.

* * *

 **A/N: Notice Luffy said** _ **brother**_ **not** _ **brothers**_ **. So who is it? Sabo or Ace? :3**


	69. 10 Days of LawLu - Day 7

_**Day 7: Eternity**_

 _ **((original title was "Escape"))**_

* * *

This was it. It was all over. Law had to admit, he hadn't thought they'd last even this long (but he'd been hoping they'd last longer…). As he knelt beside Luffy, his eyes scanned the rainy scene around them. The Straw Hats were holding their own admirably against the marines, and he was proud to see that his own crew was doing just fine as well, and they were all working together like a well-oiled machine. Fury was carved into each face, and underneath it, pain and sorrow that would likely escape in the form of tears if it didn't get run out of their systems in this fight. The cause of such strong emotions? Luffy. Luffy, who had the foolish idea to take a bullet - seastone bullet - to the heart. For Law.

 _ **It's ironic, isn't it?**_ a dark voice whispered in the back of his mind. _**All he's done since you reunited was save your life. Far more times than you've saved his.**_

 _But I_ can _save his life,_ Law thought, his gaze dropping to the pale, limp body in front of him.

And it'd been a long time coming, too. When Luffy took down Doflamingo, when he avenged Law's most important person, Law knew that he'd be willing to do what Doflamingo had tried to force out of him for Luffy. And while he'd never had to perform such an operation - after all, he was still currently alive - he knew, deep in the recesses of his mind, how to do it. He'd already removed the bullet, when he'd attempted to save Luffy's life (when Luffy had grabbed his hand and smile and _died_ ). There was no seastone to block his progress, and seastone would never again be a problem for Luffy.

He moved his hands so they hovered over Luffy's torso, one specifically over his heart, and he felt slightly foolish for it, but he willed Luffy to be okay, to be alive, to be **immortal**. And when the letters of death began to glow, one by one, he knew it was working. They glowed the same color as his _Room_ s, and the rest of his tattoos followed suit.

"C-Captain!" he heard Bepo shout, Penguin, then Shachi, then the rest of his nakama echoing the cry.

Bepo was smart - they were all smart - and Law had no doubt that they all had figured out what was going on. He also knew they when he was gone, they would all take care of each other until the end. As Law began to feel drained, as if all his energy was being drained through his fingertips to Luffy. As the Straw Hat captain's skin returned to its previously tan state and his eyes fluttered open, Law moved on hand to cover them.

"Don't look, Luffy-ya," he whispered.

The fact that Luffy didn't struggle, didn't try and stop Law, was a sign of how out of it he still was, but that worked well in Law's favor because he didn't think he could stop Luffy, even at his weakest. He could see his own fingers taking on the same pasty color that Luffy's skin had previously held, and a sharp ache was forming in his chest, around his heart. He hadn't realized how painful death could be, he hadn't realized that he would take Luffy's injuries upon himself, but he wouldn't have changed his mind, even if he had known. And when it was all over - when his vision was spiraling into the void and he heard a ringing in his ears that meshed with the cries of his crewmates - all he felt were Luffy's arms around him, clutching him tight, and he knew he had made the right decision.

* * *

Luffy held Law close, staring blankly in the distance as the sounds of the battle behind him continued on at an even fiercer intensity, if it were possible. He couldn't believe it. He had worked hard for two years, and every day since the reunion between himself and his crew, to become so strong that no one could take his nakama and friends away from him. Between Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, Law had become increasingly important and even more so since Luffy had taken down Doflamingo for making his newest friend suffer so much after all the pain he'd already gone through. Luffy would give his life for any of his crewmates, and Law had happened to be the one who needed it most.

Now their roles were reversed.

It was like all those years ago, when Law had saved Luffy from Marineford - he hadn't had a reason, as far as Luffy could see, to do it. He'd done it because he was a decent person, contrary to public belief. And now he's done it again, because they were friends - nakama. Because of those small moments where he smiled at Luffy when no one was looking, just because Luffy was grinning at him. Because of those stolen moments in the shadows or under the cover of the moonlight where they'd exchange kisses and hold hands and bask in each other's presence. This time, however, Law's decision was permanent. Luffy knew it was, and the cold body against his confirmed it. And he felt angry. Angry at himself for not letting his hand or shoulder receive the bullet instead of full-body blocking it and getting himself killed. He was angry at Law for being so stupid and thinking Luffy's life was more important than his own. He was angry at the marines who had caused this whole mess, and he would make them pay. He gently lowered Law to the deck of the Thousand Sunny before he stood and turned to face the marine ship upon which his and Law's nakama were fending off what seemed like endless swarms of navy officers. No one else would die in this battle - he would make sure of it.

* * *

 _Coby is a good friend,_ Luffy decided as he watched the keel of the disguised ship make its escape with the Straw Hat and Heart pirates on-board. All except him. But that was fine.

He was drowning and it was more peaceful than he'd expected. Maybe it was because he'd managed to save everyone else. Maybe it was because a captain was supposed to go down with his ship in his last moments, and he'd missed his cue because the Sunny had been sunken - with Law -, taking the Polar Tang with it, long before the battle had been finished.

 _This isn't why Torao saved me…_ he thought, and that sobered his spacey mind. _Torao sacrificed himself for no reason at all…_

He couldn't really feel it, but he knew he was crying as his chest tightened.

 _I'm sorry, Torao..._


	70. ZoLu Week 2k17 - Fantasy AU

When Zoro woke, he was disorientated; the burning of his lungs and pounding of his head didn't help matters. He couldn't summon the energy to open his eyes or even move as he tried to figure out why he felt like Hell. There were voices murmuring nearby – he couldn't make out any words, but one in particular stuck out to him, a voice that seemed to be directed towards him rather than around him. But he couldn't manage to keep a grasp on his consciousness and sunk back into the realm of dreams.

His second time waking up was much more successful. His lungs didn't feel like they were shredded anymore and while he still had a headache, it was durable. His eyes fluttered open and he gazed blankly at the light blue ceiling above him. Nope, that definitely wasn't the color of his bedroom ceiling, or that of any of his friends' living room ceilings (not that he remembered, anyway, from the times he slept on their couches after long days). He slowly sat up and looked down at himself, blanching. He had been stripped down at some point; his haramaki was gone, along with his swords _which he always had_ , and he knew he didn't own any eyesores like the bright yellow shirt he was clad in. At least his pants were still his own, but he could feel bandages around his left thigh, so they had to have come off at some point. He shuddered slightly at the thought. There were also bandages peering out of the short sleeves of the shirt, too, and tugging at the collar, he found that his whole torso was swathed, with a line of pink (blood?) stretching from his collarbone to the opposite hip. Just what the Hell had happened to him?

Voices outside the door of the room he was in caught his attention and he frantically looked around for an escape route, but there were no windows or vents to make use of. The door clicked open and Zoro's attention was drawn to it. He swore his eyes were going to roll out of his head with how wide they grew from the sight of the _creatures_ entering.

The creature in the lead was more humanoid than his companion. His skin was a pale pink, as if he'd sat under hot water for too long. He was wearing blue shorts and a dark red shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing a maroon colored scar in the shape of an 'x'. He had black hair that peered out from beneath a worn straw hat, and another scar stretching beneath his left eye.

Following behind was another being with normal, pale skin and blond hair that hid his right eye (his visible one being blue? green? Zoro couldn't tell from the distance). That was where his human similarities ended, however. He also had webbed fingers and from waist-down, he had a _tail._ It resembled that of a shark Zoro had seen on tv during shark week before – a thresher shark, with the end of the tail being long and whip-like. He had a large bubble around his waist, keeping him upright, and as he spoke, Zoro caught flashes of many sharp teeth and swallowed thickly.

"Okay, so you panicked and kissed the human so he wouldn't drown, but we can't keep him and he can't leave if he knows about us merpeople, so what are we going to do? Luffy, if your brothers ever find out that I'm helping you hide him..."

Zoro blanked out for a moment, focusing on two things: merpeople were _real,_ and apparently the one with the pink skin had _kissed him_. Well, it seemed to have been for the purpose of saving his life, so he could probably let it slide, but that didn't mean he had to like it. (Kuina would be laughing so hard at him.) Before the two could continue speaking, Zoro cleared his throat. The one that was called Luffy whipped around to face him while the blond jumped slightly.

"You're awake!" Luffy cheered, beaming widely and revealing that he, too, had teeth perfectly suited for tearing out Zoro's throat. The green-haired man couldn't help but notice, also, that Luffy's ears were spiky and webbed, similar to his fingers, and twitched as he turned back to his companion. "See, Sanji? I told you he wouldn't die! And he didn't even scream like Vivi did!"

 _Ha, as if I would ever sink so low as to scream, even if they may be planning on eating me,_ Zoro thought.

Sanji didn't look half as thrilled as Luffy. "Sure, that's great, Lu, but seriously, about his situation—"

"We can just let him go," the straw hatted boy decided with a shrug. "I mean, he's not gonna tell anyone. Right?" This was directed back towards Zoro with a wide-eyed look of complete trust that made him feel guilty for even _considering_ saying 'no' to see what would happen.

"Right," he agreed weakly.

Sanji's eye narrowed at him and that solidified Zoro's assumption of him being part shark because that gaze was absolutely predatory. "Why were you even in the middle of the ocean?" he asked.

Luffy took a seat at the end of the bed, the expression of an excited puppy on his face. "Yeah! Tell me about your adventures!"

 _Adventures?_ Zoro wracked his brain for the events between being on vacation with Usopp and Nami and waking up wherever he was now.

"I don't remember," he admitted. "I..."

 _ **"**_ _ **Usopp, take Nami and run!"**_

 _ **Pain, being dragged, then...**_

 _ **"**_ _ **You bastard. Enjoy being fish food."**_

 _ **There was water all around him, the muffled sound of a boat engine, and he couldn't breathe. He was going to die and**_ **holy shit, something just touched his foot!** _ **Then he was face-to-face with someone, but he couldn't make out their features because his vision was going blurry and dark, and his heartbeat was pounding sluggishly in his ears. His nose was squeezed by fingers with too-sharp nails and something cold touched his lips and air filled his lungs, but it was too late and he went unconscious.**_

"My friends were in danger," he muttered, realizing Sanji and Luffy were gazing at him expectantly. "I usually can swim, but..." He raised a hand to his head and found bandages around it. That explained the lingering headache. "And you saved me," he said to Luffy, adding with a slightly dip of his head, "Thank you."

Luffy seemed to preen happily at the gratitude, but then his expression turned serious – it was both out-of-place on such a previously excited person, but at the same time fit well into his personality.

"Do you know if your friends got away?"

"I don't know. My phone..." His hands slid to his pockets, but they were empty. "Where-"

"I'll go get your belongings – what survived your descent here, anyway." Sanji turned and left the room and as he did, Zoro noticed that the open doorway seemed to ripple around him, and when he was in the hall, the bubble popped and Sanji _swam away_.

Feeling his headache threatening to grow into a migraine at having to accept so much unconventional information, Zoro decided to get the rest out of the way while he could.

"Where am I?"

"Fishman Island," Luffy replied. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm a Fishman. That was Sanji, and he's a merman."

Right. So not only are mermaids (and men) real, but there are also Fishmen, who seemed to be more humanoid in some ways. And they have an island that's called Fishman Island, and it's...

"Are we underwater?" Zoro asked.

Luffy gave him an incredulous look. "Are you stupid?"

Well, Zoro had to give him that – it was kind of a dumb question. After all, if they weren't underwater, there wouldn't be water filling the hallway. But why wasn't the room full of water, then? As if reading his mind, Luffy continued on with another explanation.

"We have air pockets. In fact, most of the island is made of air pockets. We have a water-controlling thingy that can fill and drain parts of Fishman Island with water. People with tails like Sanji use bubbles to get around in the air bubbles."

It was a lot to take in, but Zoro felt like he was understanding everything. In that moment, Sanji came back and Luffy got up to take the items – stored in a bubble – from him as he made a new bubble... Was that coming out of coral? ...around his waist. Luffy popped the bubble and set Zoro's three swords, haramaki, phone, and torn shirt on the bed in front of him. Unsheathing each of his swords, Zoro was relieved to find that they weren't rusted or chipped at all. His haramaki was in one piece, while his previously white shirt was torn apart and stained with blood.

"You were really hurt when I found you," Luffy explained. "You were lucky I found you first, too, because I passed a lot of hungry sharks on my way to you."

He and Sanji exchanged a glance and Zoro felt a little less safe in Sanji's presence, but he tried not to think too much on that as he picked up his phone. To his surprise, it turned on, and even had service. But then again, merpeople were supposed to be mythical, so maybe it was due to magic? He dialed Nami's number, since she was more in the habit of answering her phone than Usopp, but it went straight to voicemail. Usopp's was the same way.

"I think they got caught," he muttered, glaring at his phone and wishing he could've done something instead of being taken out and dragged to the bottom of the ocean.

"Yosh, let's go rescue your nakama," Luffy decided, pounding a fist into the center of the other palm.

Sanji and Zoro both stared blankly at him.

"What?" they both asked – well, Sanji demanded in a pissed tone and Zoro croaked in disbelief.

"Zoro, you're my respon... re..." Luffy looked at Sanji helplessly.

"Responsibility," Sanji said, then shook his head. "Luffy, we're not going! He's not allowed to leave!"

"Sanji!" Luffy leaped over to him and grabbed his shoulders. "This is our chance to get out of here and go on a real adventure! And besides, if I'm with Zoro, he's not really leaving, is he? And you're my nakama, so you have to come with me."

"What kind of half-brained logic is that!?" Sanji huffed, brushing Luffy's hands off of him.

"Zoro is gonna be our nakama, Sanji," Luffy declared seriously. "And that means his nakama are also our own. _Please,_ come with us, Sanji."

Sanji looked like he wanted to punch Luffy, or bite him, or whatever merpeople do to show their displeasure when they're part shark. But he sighed, glancing at Zoro and seeming to appraise him for a moment before relenting.

"Fine. But only because _you're_ my nakama, Luffy."

Luffy cheered as Sanji reentered the hallway, muttering something about preparing food and supplies.

"Don't worry, Zoro," Luffy said as the human slid out of the bed, stretching and testing the range of his movement with the bandages. "We'll get your nakama back."

He grinned a thousand watt, razor sharp smile and Zoro couldn't help but smirk back as he donned his haramaki and slid his swords into place.

"I trust you, Luffy."

* * *

 **(A/N: Okay, so in this AU, mercreatures live for hundreds of years, like vampires (+ etc.) do. But in human years, Luffy is the same age as Zoro (19) and Sanji is older than them (21). Also, Sanji has a problem with humans, have you noticed? If I continue this, I may get around to full explaining that.)**


	71. ZoLu Week 2k17 - Modern Day and Soulmate

**ZoLu Week**

 **Day 2 + 3 – Modern Day and Soulmate AU – The Dreamer**

 **(A/N: I decided to combine Day 2 and 3 because why not? Anyway, let's see how this goes. Enjoy!)**

* * *

 _ **A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. During lucid dreaming, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over the dream characters, narrative, and environment**_

* * *

 _"_ _Hey, it's you again!"  
Zoro whipped around, sword raised, and he barely managed to stop himself from lopping off the head of the boy behind him._

 _"_ _Don't_ do _that," he complained, heart pounding so hard in his chest that he could feel it in his throat. "Where have you been? Don't go running off on your own in the middle of the fucking apocalypse!" He felt silly, scolding someone from his dream, but this character had been around so long that he couldn't help but see him as a real person._

 _Luffy, as the apparition called himself, just laughed gleefully, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry." He obviously wasn't sorry. "We've never been in a situation like this before. Why-"_

 _"_ _Zombie movie marathon," Zoro grumbled. "It was Robin's night to pick the genre, and she always has the most terrifying tastes."_

 _Luffy nodded with a mock-serious expression and held up a pipe. "I found a weapon. Now I can protect you!"_

 _"_ _Excuse me?"_

 _Before they could dissolve into friendly bickering, a cacophony of moans sounded outside the room and Zoro gesture towards the window._

 _"_ _Let's get out of here."_

 _"_ _Yeah," Luffy agreed. "I'm hungry!"_

 _Zoro's groan joined that of the horde of zombies as they made their escape._

* * *

Zoro was a lucid dreamer, according to his friend, Robin.

"Most people aren't so aware of the details of their dreams," she explained. "And you say that you control what goes on in it sometimes?"

He nodded as he drained his bottle of Gatorade. Due to the insistent prodding (and crocodile tears) of Chopper, he agreed to decrease his intake of alcoholic beverages, even though he couldn't get drunk and it, so far, hadn't brought about any detrimental effects to his body.

"Yeah. It was a zombie apocalypse dream last night-" He gave her a glare that she pointedly ignored. "-and Luffy got bit because he is a moron. He was getting sick and I was worried he was going to turn or die, but then it miraculously turned out that he was immune to it."

Robin hummed, smiling. "Interesting. Keep me updated on these dreams."

"Sure." His phone buzzed in his pocket and when he pulled it out, he saw it was his alarm. "I gotta go to work. Don't want to be fired."  
She nodded and waved him off and he promised to visit soon as he left.

* * *

 _"_ _Wow, Zoro, you make a pretty good tiger."_

 _Zoro blinked himself awake at the voice above his head and and glanced up to find a monkey with Luffy's clothes and straw hat dangling from a tree branch that extended over him. He slowly sat up and looked over himself. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of annoyance when he found that his fur was as green as his hair, but he could hear his earrings clicking together with his movement and his haramaki still sat around his middle, so that cooled his temper a little._

 _"_ _You look the same as always," he commented in return, eyeing his tail as it patted against the ground a few times. He was sure it had a mind of its own because he definitely wasn't telling it to move._

 _"_ _Thanks, shishishi!"_

 _The thinly veiled insult went right over the idiot's head and that made Zoro want to smirk except he was pretty sure he couldn't do that as a giant cat._

 _"_ _Let's go explore," Luffy said, and it wasn't a suggestion, but all of Zoro's dreams turned into adventures with Luffy in the end, and what else was there to do?_

 _Zoro rose to all four paws and grunted as a heavy weight settled onto his back. Luffy's fingers buried themselves into the fur at his neck and his toes dug into Zoro's sides. Zoro rolled his eyes, a sound that was suspiciously similar to a purr escaping his throat in huffs as he and his friend ventured further into the thick trees._

* * *

"It's called 'chuffing,'" Robin corrected when he recounted the dream to her later. "Tigers can't purr, so they chuff when they're happy."

 _When they're happy, huh?_ What did it say about him that a fictional person that his mind has conjured up made him happy? It took a lot to make him genuinely feel happy, especially after he lost the ability to wield swords and take part in kendo competitions due to an injury he received when facing the man who was the world's greatest swordsman. Now it was hard to even do morning exercises due to the painful pull of the scar tissue across his torso, not that it stopped him. And sure, his friends – Robin, Chopper, Franky, and Perona – made him happy, but Luffy? He wasn't even _real_.

"Zoro." Robin's hand settled on his and he raised his eyes to hers. She smiled softly at him. "I'm glad these dreams are taking a positive turn."

She was referring to his many nightmares in the past of his loss and injury. It'd haunted him for so long, until one night, as he was struggling to remain standing and face his fate, waiting for the blade to slice through his skin and ruin his life, the pain never came. He lowered his eyes from where they were locked on the ceiling and he found a boy stopping the blade with his bare hands, blood running down his arms. As the kid turned to look at Zoro, he caught sight of a deadly serious look on his face for a split second before it turned into a blinding grin.

 _"_ _Shishishi~ That was close! Are you alright?"_ Luffy had asked, and Zoro fell to his knees with tears threatening to fall from his eyes because even then, he knew that the nightmares were about to morph into something new – something better.

"Thanks Robin." He got alerted from his work alarm and stood. Robin stood as well and they exchanged hugs before he grabbed his jacket – it was beginning to get chilly out – and left. Restocking shelves at a store wasn't exactly a job he looked forward to doing everyday, but it paid the rent.

* * *

 _"_ _Wow..." Luffy breathed, looking up at the thick clouds overhead, puffs of fog escaping his lips. "Is this snow?"_

 _"_ _You've never seen snow before?" Zoro asked incredulously. Luffy was a figment of his imagination, so shouldn't he have the same experiences of everyday life that Zoro had, like experiencing annual snowfall?_

 _Luffy shook his head. "Not in real life. Only in pictures." His expression twisted for a second. "Pictures from my brother."_

 _Zoro didn't like seeing such a somber look on Luffy's face, but he wasn't exactly the kind of man to comfort people easily, so he did the next best thing. The look of complete shock Luffy wore was completely worth it when the snowball collided with his forehead. He stared wide eyed at Zoro before cackling and making his own snowball, managing to hit Zoro on the arm, even as he attempted to dive out of the way. Their snowball war lasted for what seemed like hours before they laid side-by-side in the freezing sheet of white on the ground._

 _"_ _Sabo is my brother's name," Luffy explained, though he didn't sound upset. "He's traveling right now, beating up corrupt politicians." His eyes darted over to meet Zoro's. "Don't tell anyone, though. He could get in big trouble."_

 _Zoro raised a hand and made an 'x' over his heart, which made Luffy smile. Zoro couldn't even imagine taking this conversation less than seriously and honestly, he was beginning to doubt that Luffy was just part of his dreams._

 _"_ _Hey, Luffy." The younger man made a sound in response as Zoro's gaze returned to the sky. "I was thinking...I might try out for the next kendo competition."_

 _He knew Luffy's eyes were widening without even looking, so he continued before any protests could arise._

 _"_ _Ever since I stopped, my life has turned...gloomy. And I truly believe my dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman is still worth fighting for. Even at the cost of my life."_

 _Luffy's hand was suddenly on his shoulder, squeezing it and catching his attention. The grin on Luffy's face was the widest one Zoro had ever seen._

 _"_ _Zoro, I know you'll achieve your dreams. And I'm here to cheer you on along the way."_

 _And that meant more to Zoro than Luffy would likely ever know, though he could begin to show just how much he appreciated it by giving a full smile for the first time since they met._

 _"_ _Alright. I'll sign up tomorrow. Wish me luck."_

 _Luffy's laugh echoed through his mind as he woke up._

 _"_ _You won't need it."_

* * *

The competition was fierce, just like Zoro remembered it, and he was a little out of practice (okay, _really_ out of practice), but his muscle memory worked just fine and having to give his all in every fight helped to strengthen whatever parts of him may have weakened since he last lifted his swords. He got so tired after matches that he fell into dreamless sleep every time, and he missed talking with Luffy, but he knew that once he got through the last of the fights, he could tell Luffy everything.

"You're such an idiot, Roronoa Zoro!" Perona screeched at him through his phone over Skype, her pink hair longer than he remembered from the last time he was in Grandline City, home of the kendo finals arena and the world's greatest swordsman – plus his adopted daughter, Perona. "You can't beat him!"

"I won't know if I don't try," he replied calmly.

She sputtered, then began to pout. He smirked slightly at that – somethings never changed.

"Are you going to be there?"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, pursing her lips, then smiling at him. "I'll be cheering you on, so you better win. I'll get your friends good seats. How many do you have, if any? You know what, just text me the number."

Zoro just barely restrained himself from spitting his tongue out at her before she signed off. As he stopped in front of the correct building (he'd left the hotel hours earlier so that the city changing around him couldn't make him late), he noticed a slight figure standing a few feet in front of him, clad in all blue and a straw hat, and surrounded by a small group of people, one of which he recognized as martial arts master, Jinbe.

"Mm... Is this the right place, Nami?" the man mused aloud.

Zoro felt like his heart stopped right then and there.

"Of course it is!" the orange haired woman to his left huffed, sounding offended. "If this 'Zoro' person is real, and actually in this kendo thing, then this is the place he'd be."

"Miss Nami is correct, Luffy- _san_ ," a tall, skeleton-thin man agreed, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder. "Sanji, Pedro, Carrot, and Usopp should be here soon. Shall we head inside?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

As his friends began walking inside, Luffy moved to follow. Zoro tried to get his mouth to work, and managed a choked noise, but that was enough for Luffy to stop and turn.

"Zoro?!"

Luffy's friends turned back in time to see Luffy launch himself at Zoro, who caught him easily as the boy clung to him and babbled happily.

"I thought I wouldn't be able to see you before it began!" Luffy practically shouted. "You've really done it, Zoro!"

"It's... It's good to see you too, Luffy," Zoro managed. It wasn't as surreal as he thought it'd be to meet Luffy in real life. "I have to go – the competition is going to start soon. But, afterwards-"

"I'll be waiting," Luffy stated with a confident nod as he dropped off of Zoro, beaming.

"Head for the front rows," Zoro advised. "I have a friend who can get you guys seats."

With Robin, Chopper, and Franky included, there would have to be a total of eleven seats needed, so Zoro texted the number to Perona, and with one last hug stolen from him by Luffy, he was on his way to face the man who previously ended his fighting career. But there was a newfound confidence in his steps, and even if he didn't win, he would be giving it his all, with his friends cheering him on.


	72. ZoLu Week 2k17 - Sunshine

**ZoLu Week**

 **Day 5: Sunshine**

* * *

 **Aurokinesis - Control Aura**

I can see how people act before ever talking to them, that's why you're the only one in the room I'm going to talk to

* * *

The world was infested by cruel and corrupt souls. As far as Zoro knew, it had always been that way. Ever since he was a child, he understood that there were rarely any good people to be found, not when everything ran on broken promises and betrayal. Everyone around him in his home town was surrounded by perpetual darkness, and he taught himself how to fight them. And when he proved himself to be stronger than them, that emboldened his decision to set out and fight of all the shadows he came across. That was why it came as such a shock to find someone surrounded by a color other than pitch black. Her name was Kuina, and she was like an angel with her white glow. And she beat him down as easily as he took down those cloaked in black. Her father, a man surrounded by a fuzzy grey, on the cusp of corruption, yet still good, encouraged Zoro to follow his dreams, but couldn't do the same for his passionate daughter. And with Kuina's death came the cleansing of her father's aura as he allowed Zoro to take Kuina's sword and continue on her dream journey for her.

During his travels to train, to become stronger and stronger, he met two boys who didn't hold auras – much like himself, when he bothered to look down at himself. Apparently, they could see auras as well and were trying to make names for themselves by taking out corrupt people with bounties on their heads. Since he needed money and food anyways, and he was a bit lost, unable to get home, he decided to tag along with Johnny and Yosaku, and they became a trio to reckon with, until Zoro went off on his own once more. His adventures around different islands in the East Blue taught him that not everyone held darkness in their hearts. It was more seen in children than adults, but some people shined with reds or greens or blues, and they had personalities to match. Even rarer than that were people with two or three colors, or even _no_ colors, like himself and his bounty hunting friends, but that gave him _some_ hope.

It had been a long time since Zoro had met anyone with multiple colors, and on this island of corrupt marines, all the people were either slate grey like Kuina's father or so dark that they seemed to be demons in human form. The only exceptions were a little girl of an empathetic green, who he saved form the rage of a prissy marine's son, and her mother, who held a similar shade. So when a boy appeared, asking Zoro to join his pirate crew, he was almost blinded by the way this newcomer shined like a supernova. He was white, like Kuina – a color Zoro hadn't come across since her death –, but he definitely wasn't angelic like her. Instead, intertwined with the white, was the whole spectrum of colors, diving into view and drawing back just as quickly, as if to hide under the surface for a later date. He was a passionate red and generous green; loyal and confident blue, and powerful and ambitious purple; positive and joyful yellow, and, most striking, a streak of orange that seemed to represent his freedom. Monkey D. Luffy was all this and more, like sunlight – brightening the day, and at the same time giving life to all it came in contact with. And Zoro had a good feeling that he would never regret going on an adventure under the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates.


End file.
